Coop's Story

56 years old Rob Cooper (“Coop”) has worked at Flexride for almost a year. He served in the military in ’73 and returned to civilian life where he worked at a post office processing and delivery mail for thirty two years.
Having retired from the post office, Rob took on a part-time job as a campus bus shuttle driver to bring in extra income and get him out of the house. His wife had been “driving” his wife crazy ever since retirement.

Rob noticed his eye sight wasn’t what it used to be at a health checkup and wears a pair of glasses before he starts driving. He also suspects that his hearing has diminished, as he usually has to ask riders to repeat their destination to him.

He has mixed feelings about his new job and is considering looking for other work. The job can be stressful, especially during rush hour, and he often precieves his passengers as rude, indifferent and ungrateful for his assistance. Sometimes he forgets a stop (there can be a lot of people, all with different routes) or dispatch asks him to go somewhere far out of his range (why him?). He’s found that the other drivers have similar stories. Being blamed for things out of his control can be very frustrating.

He thought the job might be fun because he could make people’s lives just a little bit easier. Unfortunately, he instead gets glares from passengers who have waited in the rain. They probably don’t realize how far a simple thank-you woud go.