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.
"Good peoples, bro," a boy said, coming up at the end of his ride, offering a regular handshake. I've just let his brother ride for free.
"'Ppreciate it, foo," said another man, who had seen me being friendly with everyone.
Then: "You're the coolest driver ever," an elderly drunk said, wriggling...
We addressed "the whole bathroom thing" in my previous post. While we're on a roll, let's settle another issue--the one where people tell me Seattle is overwhelmingly white.
I'm weary of people who spend their entire lives north of the Ship Canal telling me that Seattle isn't diverse. Hipsters who spend all their...
You've probably heard by now of the now-famous sixty urine-soaked seats. In what ended up making national news, the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries fined Metro for one serious violation (not providing operators with unrestricted access to bathroom facilities when needed to relieve themselves, with specific attention to how bathrooms are often...
I try to avoid turning my stories into soapboxing opportunities, and for that reason they're rarely topical in the "breaking news" sense, but I'm compelled to address an issue a number of people have been asking me, and which you may be curious about.
Because I drive the "black" bus, people want to...
"FUCK YOU," he says as he boards, with such unhinged force I can only find it comical. Fifty-year old East African man in a sweatshirt and slacks, holding a wooden chair in one hand. I don't know why I think this is so funny. I think it's because he...
"Don't get on!" says the other driver to the passengers. She's brought me her bus at the end of her shift, for me to take over instead of continuing with my own broken bus. A coach change, as it's called. "Should I let 'em on?" she asks me, as...
The faces you see, glancingly, across the years, are living full and storied lives of their own. Nearly three years ago I wrote: A red-faced man in construction clothing steps on through the back door at Maynard, recognizing me, the driver way up there, and shoots me a big...
Triangle Park, across from the Frye--the very same "it's-not-the-Frye-unless-there's-an-ambulance-out-front"--right in the heart of upper Pioneer Square, is not known for harboring commuters with an urgent need to catch specific buses to outlying destinations. Especially not at midnight. Nevertheless, tonight a runner streaks out of its dark recesses toward my...