Just Drive: Life in the Bus Lane is a chronological compilation of blog posts from author Deke N. Blue’s blog, “From the Driver Side”, which logs his experiences as a bus operator in Portland, Oregon. These posts cover a large variety of topics, such as politics, the economy, race, and even to everyday life.
Our public transit experiences are usually from the perspective of the passenger, but Blue offers a refreshing perspective: that of the driver. He also utilises his blog to list the pros and cons of being a bus operator, such as the occupational health risks, job security, union benefits, as well as the various safety issues that arise during the course of his job.
I enjoyed reading this book. As a bus operator, Blue sees people from all walks of life when he is out on a run (read: driving a bus route), and this serves as inspiration for his posts. As a result, his posts are generally brutally honest, refreshing, down-to-earth, and most importantly, informative. “A Battle Hymn for Us All” is one post that is especially enlightening; in it, he discusses the minimum wage, and he breaks down the negative stereotypes surrounding transit workers, helping the readers to better understand the life of a transit worker.
In addition, Blue also includes a couple of blog posts about his personal life, which I think is a nice touch, as it helped me to form a clearer image of his personality. Blue therefore becomes a multi-faceted personality who is easier to relate to, instead of being merely a bus driver. “Twitterpated” is a fine and heart-warming example of this; although it tells the simple story of his wife riding his bus, his love for her shines the brightest with every word written.
This brings me to the language used: succinct, straightforward, and therefore, hard hitting. There were also very few grammar errors, most of them being minor punctuation errors which did not detract significantly from the reading flow. Blue is adept at weaving a story, and he knows how to hold the reader’s attention by painting unbelievably clear pictures with his descriptions of various scenes.
Still, the book is not without its flaws. As previously mentioned, Just Drive: Life in the Bus Lane is a collection of blog posts about Blue’s experience in the driver’s seat. Coming in at slightly over 400 pages, it did get slightly repetitive due to the same themes being utilised over and over again.
Moreover, personally, I believe that Blue’s writing is overly-defensive at times. Whilst we are given a crystal-clear insight into his perspective, I think he seems to be unable to view issues with an objective eye; this is not to say that he is prejudiced, but he is too submerged in his own position to view matters from the other side. Some of his posts are clearly emotional rants, even going as far as to label people “boneheads”. It would be better for a piece of writing to possess aplomb and impartiality, instead of being emotional, which clouds judgement. This is not to invalidate Blue’s writing; it is simply saying that he could make more of an effort to step in the other’s shoes to view it from the opposing point of view to provide a more balanced piece of writing.
Therefore, I rate Just Drive: Life in the Bus Lane 3 out 4 stars. I subtracted a star due to the theme repetition, as well as the over-emotional slant present in some of his blog posts. Despite these flaws, this is a book that is certainly worth reading, for the fresh perspective and depth of insight. I highly recommend this to people who want to know more about the transport industry – this is the perfect place to start!
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