An alcoholic on the bus ride home tonight… WTF is wrong with our mental health support network
I rode the bus this afternoon to assist the San Jose Downtown Streets Team in putting homeless people back to work. On the bus ride back home I noticed an individual on the bus I initially thought was blind and/or mentally handicapped. But a few minutes after I boarded he started shouting seemingly random phrases. He then made several random seating changes (while showing us his lovely butt crack).
Soon after that he slowly took off his pants. While doing so the bus driver calmly told him to put his pants back on. The rider then stood up (completely naked from the waste down) and slowly put on shorts. The bus driver pulled over at the next stop and could be seen talking to his dispatcher. The rider then moved to the very back of the bus where I observed him drinking what appeared to be straight vodka while intermittently spitting and drooling on the floor. I suspect the alcoholic had pissed himself thus prompting the change of pants.
The bus driver was very polite to the alcoholic and told him the sheriff would be arriving soon and he could wait on the bus or on the sidewalk. The alcoholic chose to wait on the bus. At which point the driver suggested to the rest of us that we should consider changing to the next route #22 bus that was about to arrive at our location.
The bus driver should be commended for an excellent job in handling a difficult and uncomfortable situation. I wish I had stayed to observe how the police handled the situation. I hope the police exhibited the same professionalism and compassion shown by the bus driver but I would be surprised if they did so. Hopefully this person will get some help for his addiction but I doubt that will happen given that our state run mental health programs have been underfunded for decades.