By afternoon, the grey clouds broke, and weak sunlight filtered through the large windows of the bus. Driving Line 405 gave me a unique vantage point of Kalmar. I watched the quiet streets, the closed shopfronts, and the masked pedestrians walking their dogs. It was a lonely time to be a driver, isolated behind a plastic shield, but it also came with a profound sense of purpose.
The vehicle was an electric hybrid, silent and cold. Before starting the engine, I went through the daily ritual that 2021 had imposed on all of us. I wiped down the steering wheel, the dashboard, and the fare payment machine with disinfectant. I checked that the plexiglass barrier separating my cab from the passengers was secure. Satisfied, I fired up the systems and pulled out of the depot into the dim morning light. Day As A Bussdriver Kalmar Line 405 2021 Corona MP3 Download
At my first few stops, only a handful of passengers boarded. Everyone wore masks, their eyes darting nervously to ensure they maintained a safe distance from one another. Green stickers on the seats dictated where people could and could not sit. There was no friendly chatter, no morning gossip. The only sounds were the quiet hum of the bus motor and the occasional automated announcement reminding passengers to keep their distance. By afternoon, the grey clouds broke, and weak
Midway through the route, I pulled up to the stop near the central hospital. A young woman in medical scrubs boarded, looking exhausted before her day had even truly begun. She tapped her travel card against the reader, offered me a weary but genuine smile through her mask, and took a seat near the back. That small, silent exchange of mutual acknowledgment felt incredibly heavy. We were both just doing our jobs, trying to keep the city moving while the world felt like it was standing still. It was a lonely time to be a
As my shift came to an end and I parked the bus back at the depot, I took off my mask and took a deep breath of fresh air. The pandemic had stripped away the normalcy of the job, but it had revealed the quiet resilience of the people riding my bus. I signed off the terminal, left the sanitized cab behind, and headed home.
Line 405 was a lifeline route, connecting the residential suburbs to the city center and the regional hospital. In normal times, the bus would be packed with students and commuters standing shoulder to shoulder. But this was the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the atmosphere was entirely different.