I’ve noticed on my rides via MAX that there are a lot more TriMet employees on them these days. The first time I saw one I scrambled to make sure I had my ticket in reach when asked for it. This, however, was not the case! So the boyo and I were wondering, were they just there to scare people? Was it for anyone who was about to get on sans ticket and then, “OOPS! TriMet personnel!” I know I was reaching about to make sure I had the ticket handy to prove that I was a paying rider.

Still, they never asked for anything and sort of just… stood there or talked to people. In fact, I don’t think I saw any of these people talk to anyone until my third ride with TriMet personnel on board (and no, they weren’t just on their way home… they were definitely a presence). Oddly, on that ride there were 2 kids across from me, doing that whole “let’s get drunk and ride the MAX!” thing. The girl (who looked like Lurch in technicolor, which hindered more than helped) took out her knife and flashed it at her drunken boyfriend in such a way that the TriMet guys couldn’t see it. The guy told her to put it away and asked why she had it, to which she responded, “You know, for offense reasons.” … I think she meant defense as they were not the sharpest tools in the tool shed, but you never know! At this point idiot boy decides that, just in case the Trimet guys didn’t see the girl’s knife, this would be a fine time to bring out his hooch.

Finally! Tweedledum and Tweedledum-er caught their attention. One of the TriMet guys asked the kid to please put his drink away as that was not allowed on the bus. The kid figures out that these guys saw him and apologizes going all “sir” on him and proceeds to chat him up until the next stop when he grabs Lurch and exits so that they can presumably drink their hooch.

One of the other passengers (seemingly normal) starts talking to the TriMet guys and asking questions about what they do. Apparently, from what I could hear over Loud Couple #1 that had just entered as the tweedles left, they were there as a presence, observing and doing things like reminding idiotboy that you cannot drink on the MAX. Hmmm…

I kinda like it, but, one has to wonder, will it do something? I mean, I guess a lot of the dumb things that happen (mind you, that I’ve seen) could have used guys like that on board that could have either diffused a situation or perhaps they would have been enough to make someone think twice. Guess, we’ll have to see. Still, it’s nice to see them when I do (and that’s a lot more regularly, unless it’s just my train…), and I actually do miss them on the trains when I don’t see any TriMet people.