“How you doin’?” I ask a man stepping in.
“You know how it goes,” he replied. “Some days chicken, some days Phillies.”
He didn’t smile til the end of it, which made it all the funnier. We laugh.
“You’re hired,” a woman said, watching me greet and respond to the various faces as we climb up Rainier Avenue. “Jesus Christ, somebody who actually likes their job!”
“I can’t help myself!”
“We’re movin’ out,” I say into the microphone as we pull out, letting people know it’s a good idea to hold on.
“Yeeeeeah,” she says enthusiastically. “Lez get this party started!”
“I already started a party,” says another woman, dancing a little. “But I need jo help!”
“You got it, girlfriend!” the first one exclaims, as they start wiggling along together, a new form of seated dancing, the imaginary rhythm in their heads jiving out into something real.
Nathan Vass is an artist, filmmaker, photographer, and author by day, and a Metro bus driver by night, where his community-building work has been showcased on TED, NPR, The Seattle Times, KING 5 and landed him a spot on Seattle Magazine’s 2018 list of the 35 Most Influential People in Seattle. He has shown in over forty photography shows is also the director of nine films, six of which have shown at festivals, and one of which premiered at Henry Art Gallery. His book, The Lines That Make Us, is a Seattle bestseller and 2019 WA State Book Awards finalist.