Nathan Vass
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.
His name is the same name he gives me every time: Nefarious Peripheral, No Tunnel Vision. When he first saw me, years ago, he made fun of me for my age and what he called my "Harry Potter glasses." I think he thought I was younger than him. By...
Don't tell me these guys aren't packing.
We're pulling in to the zone at Rainier and Othello northbound, where folks are still roaming about in the wee hours, like ants in the urban dusk. You may have heard of the intersection; I describe it here. Teenagers can be loud or...
"You know, I find this job oddly relaxing," I told a man with a box of cupcakes. "I basically tool around for eight hours talking to people! You never know what's going to happen, it keeps you sharp…."
That was earlier in the night. Now we're going up Pine Street,...
She's repeating. We had this exact same exchange five minutes ago. "I'm a little tipsy," she'd said upon boarding, a woeful understatement.
"Yeah you are," I'd said.
"Happy New Year, Mister Bus driver," she saying again now.
"Happy New Year to you too!"
"How was your New Year's?"
"It was pretty good, how was...
"Hey."
"Hey."
"Hey, come on in," I said.
"You leavin' now?"
"Yeah yeah."
"Can you hang on one second? My moms is goin' to the bathroom on the side of the bus."
"Hold up. What? Where?!"
"Don't look! Don't look!"
"Dude, I gotta roll. I'm gonna roll out."
"She's almost done! What time you s'posta leave?"
"Shoulda been a...
"We wanna go forward, not backward! Works better that way," I muttered to myself and anyone listening. I prefer when the bus rolls forward. We were doing the famed (in my head, anyway) midnight trip on the 7, headed out to Rainier Beach. The traction motor kicked in, and all was well. "Alright, time to...
"How's it goin'," he said, the twenty-first century version of "hello." Words may change, but intentions hold steady. I was leaving the comfort station at Rainier & Henderson, and we recognized each other on the dimly lit sidewalk. He's a touch shorter than me and likely a touch younger,...
Everything about the day was fine, except for this headache. I think you know the type. Imagine a subtle, unending brain freeze, surging every time you exert yourself physically. Something as inconsequential as kneeling to retie a shoe, and the blood is rushing up now, pushing your brain against...