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.
In that doorway, over there on Second South, is where a woman goes at night. She injects and imbibes various assortments of drugs as her body shudders and moans, phasing through the different reactions, pushing out time and life.
Just down the block is where a shooting was last night; Sho...
Yes it is! The title says it all. Have you thanked your driver lately? Officially speaking, today's the day to do so, although you're welcome to do so any day you choose!
Driving the bus is a rewarding task, but an extremely demanding one. I'm amused when passengers ask if "it...
Northbound Aurora at 100th. Leaning into the front door:
"Hey, did you see a, I left a wallet a couple hours ago…?"
"Uhh," I said.
I look around on the dash. This coach has been out all day, already operated on for eight hours by another operator. We have an agreement where...
At 3rd and Virginia, on my 358: a large African-American man in his fifties gets on. I ask him how he's doing. He's doing fine, and he sits down somewhere behind me. A moment later he comes back up.
"Hey, what's your bus number?"
"Wha-?" I don't know what the coach...
Read more stories from the bus at nathanvass.com.
"Whuhjjoo pick?" What'd you pick? It's the question we operators all ask each other, right after "Pick-" that thrice-yearly event in which we have an opportunity to choose a different route. It's all terribly exciting, and not unlike a total job change- you might...
"Are you righteous? Kind? Does your confidence lie in this? Are you loved by all? Know that I was, too. Do you imagine your sufferings will be less because you loved goodness? Truth?"
-Malick
I've driven buses across the Aurora Bridge about a thousand times. Every time I do so, without...
Read more stories form the road at www.nathanvass.com.
It's that kid again, the one with the observant eyes. I've had a chance or two to chat with him in the interim. He is Amad, eleven or twelve, dressed in ordinary, low-profile garb. No flashy bling or starched denim–just a regular...
This post is a follow-up of sorts to two writeups from last year, "(Hopefully Not) The Last Day I Drove the 358," Parts One and Two.
Her black baseball hat has some sort of lettering on it, black calligraphy on a black background. She tosses in the correct amount of...