CTA Tattler

I asked those questions last year and learned each garage has 1 or 2 decorated busses. Also they are given the decorations and the supervisors decorate it. Yay for the Holiday bus!

i didn't know they had holiday buses. frankly, i'm glad i haven't seen them yet...i'm sure they're fantastic for most, but i'm a grumbly old scrooge who prefers that the holidays pass by as quickly and uneventfully as possible. i thought it was enough to avoid the holiday trains.

Perhaps some riders don't observe Christmas, or they think it's all become rather excessive. My take is that tacky is tacky, and when I'm riding a bus, I prefer that it look and act like a bus and not require a particular emotional reaction to avoid being labeled a Scrooge by someone who thinks they know my attitude.

Besides, it's not even Advent yet, let alone Christmas, but that's another battle.

Let's be grateful that in a time of war where everybody hates everybody, we have this one time of year - the holidays.

Attack of the Surly Agnostics. How unexpected.

i would kill myself if i were on this bus.

I was raised Catholic. My father could give Clark Griswald a run for his money and is called said person by anyone who passes our house. I was raised celebrating Christmas and seeing the decorations with the family, bored me to tears.

I agree with Scott. When something like this is done if we don't react positively thrilled we do get labeled. I love the holidays, it is one time of the year when most people are nicer to others, regardless of religion.

But tacky is tacky, and that is tacky.

Not to mention hazardous. I am surprised in this world of lawsuits and what not that a bus would have dangling decorations... choking/concussive hazards.

Only a matter of time until some idiot hurts himself with one and the CTA gets sued..... again.

I think it rocks! I experienced a holiday ride on the 156 last year- Christian, agnostic or what have you, you've gotta give props to the CTA for giving back to the community. Looks like a lot of time and effort!

OOOOOO - does the paper sign in the window that identifies the bus use green AND red crayons? God forbid the time spent on decorating the darn thing be used for something useful, like fixing the LED bus identification system on the front of our buses. I'm in favor of fun and frivolity and all that, but it takes a back seat to my desire for a bus and train system that functions in a timely manner with clean equipment and responsible operators.
Yours truly,
Scrooge

A very very small percentage of buses are tackily decorated. How does this give back to the community? How does it help the community?

I think it's kinda neat. My family used to decorate when I was a kid and I haven't been home in years so, absent the smell, it reminded me of Xmas at home.

The 147 has an xmas bus too.

We can't run the red line without using the Loop tracks, but we sure can decorate a bus.

Maybe its a diversionary tactic...

I'm sorry - let me amend that. Attack of the Surly, Defensive, and Whiny Agnostics and Fallen Catholics.

Fallen Catholic? No such thing. You cannot fall out of Catholicism... Heck they don't excommunicate priests for well you know.

I rose out of Catholicism. ;)

This idea strikes me as tacky. And dangerous. And a waste of time, given that the CTA has more important things to worry about. I hope someone with epilepsy gets on that bus, has a seizure, and sues the crap out of the CTA for negligence. Oh, and I love how we're all supposed to bask in this Christian holiday even though lots of us are atheists, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, and whatever-elses. Sheesh.

No agnostic here. Not liking the tacky bus makes me agnostic? Interesting logic. By saying maybe some don't observe Christmas, I wasn't including myself; otherwise I would have made that clear.

So I guess I'm surly because I don't gasp with delight and enchantment at every display of red-velour ribbons and Santa dolls.

Aww come on folks, it's all in good fun and spirit. Do you get angry that the City puts lights and decorations up on the streets, too?

Aww come on folks, it's all in good fun and spirit. Do you get angry that the City puts lights and decorations up on the streets, too?

Okay, okay, okay. You're right.

Attack of the Surly, Defensive, and Whiny Agnostics, Fallen Catholics, Bitter Christians, True Christians Who Are Anti-Commercialism and Anti-Santa, Members of Non-Majority Faiths Who Do NOT Appreciate State-Sponsored Displays of Christianity, and CTA Passengers with a Very, Very, Yes Very Refined Design Aesthetic.

Decorations don't make me angry. Projections like the following from the original post make me...not exactly angry...just annoyed:

"Wish I could say the same for my fellow riders, though. Everybody, from yuppies to old grannies, seemed to barely acknowledge the lights, the decorations (the pile of presents stacked on top of the passenger side wheel lit up this year!), but made no outward sign that they'd noticed that this bus might look different from, say, a bus that wasn't decorated. Or maybe they were reeling from the sound of Mariah Carey warbling "Joy to the World" from the PA system?"

I did take a good look at people who were riding the bus when I boarded. At people who got on after me. Apart from a small child who sat at the front with his mother, and a couple of older ladies who sat in front of me, I didn't notice that too many folks paid too much attention to the decorations. Which is interesting to me considering how the entire bus was covered in lights and wrapping paper and ribbon. The cords and buttons to request a stop were unencumbered, and still accessible, of course. It was all hard to ignore. But not impossible, I don't think -- if you've got an iPod or some good reading, you could be anywhere. I did notice quite a few guys obsessively checking their Blackberries.

I guess I'm like that little old lady in "The Wedding Singer", the one who paid Adam Sandler's character in meatballs and loved watching his face as he took a bite. I like the people-watching that seems to me to be an additional benefit of taking the CTA everyday. Maybe the CTA is more than just a public transit system, though we know, from its many shortcomings and flaws, that it is frequently less than that. I don't deny that service could be improved, buses and trains could be safer and cleaner, but I (being a big fan of Christmas) do appreciate it when they (or a few employees with some time on their hands) reach out and (I hope) do something to participate in the winter holiday season.

This probably sounds really pathetic, so I'm going to stop now.

Well put, Jasmine. I agree 100%!

I guess my actual point - and I do have one - is that ya can't tell what's going on with people just by looking at them. Deciding people are hating the Christmas bus just because they look like they're ignoring it is a projection. It's like people who think if someone isn't smiling, they're unhappy, when in fact they may be deeply joyful. And I'm the type who, if accused of not responding to something in the expected way, will become even less likely to satisfy the expectation. I'm a weird kid, I know. And whiny, surly, and all those other things, especially when someone prods me about not being obviously happy or excited. I'll stop now! :) Can't argue with your last comment, Jasmine...a good sentiment.

I'm an aetheist but I LOVE the xmas bus! At last a visual surprise in the midst of all the ho-ho-hum. And calling them "tacky"? That's so judgmental and elitest. Of course what I'm wishing for this holiday season is the XXX-Bus. Now that could be a sight especially if we get us some of those trannies dressed as elves or maybe even Tranta Claus.

This is the first morning in three years that I took the bus to work instead of the train, because yesterday I think I saw someone with buboes reminiscent of the plague on the blue line. Turns out to the best decision I've made in months! The christmas bus made my day! the shininess! the tackiness! the chipmunks christmas carol! if i had seen a puppy or unicorn on the christmas bus my heart would have exploded with joy.

Holiday anything on the CTA makes me want to rip my hair out. Doesn't anyone notice that the minute the CTA starts these shenanigans every year, the trains and buses become even more delayed?

Last December, when I was a disgruntled third-year law student trying to get downtown to study for exams, I got stuck on the Belmont platform watching the Creepy CTA Santa crawl by at a snail's pace. I was reminded of that moment just this morning, when I froze my ass off waiting for the 136. The bus finally showed up more than 20 minutes later, packed with people and decorated like a friggin' candy cane. I headed for the Red Line at that point.

I hate the holidays. But at least I passed the bar! :)

i was JUST on this bus TONIGHT!!! i don't think i have ever ridden the milwaukee bus in my life, and i get on and it's totally cmas'ed out! it was bizarro. but i loved it. i'm not particularly christian/non-christian or whatever, but i was TOTALLY taken by how people seemed to be not giving a shit either. i mean, i walked on and was like ...WOW!!!

(i took pictures, too.)

it just sort of made my night. if for nothing else, than it was totally unexpected and interesting.

It is nice to know that the CTA has the capital budget to purchase extensive garish holiday decorations for each of its various bus lines, but not enough to repair the rusted segments of huge gaping holes in the Argyle station infrastructure, that has station attendants bailing buckets upon buckets of rain (and melted snow!).

"CTA: We Know Our Spectacle (tm)"

I rode a Christmas 145 this morning. The decorations were cheesy goodness, but they have to stop broadcasting whatever 'Lite FM' station that was. I heard the. worst. Christmas. song. ever. on it today, while we were on the Drive and I couldn't get away from it. Something about Santa and a soldier, recited over an instrumental Silent Night.

This thing looked like Christmas just threw up all over the inside. I like the holidays, but this was serious over kill. And how come there were no CTA elves to pass out candy like on the holiday trains?!? And the music just about killed any holiday spirit I may have lad left. I mean - what's worse than Alvin and the Chipmunks? A: Their Christmas Song - that's what...

I know this is a late response, but frankly, if I saw this coming I would wait for the next one. Especially if I still worked retail. By Dec. 10, you are just sick to death of Christmas, winter holidays, etc., whatever you care to celebrate at the Winter Solstice.
It sounds as though the music is enough to stun you at 10 paces anyway, and I prefer not to have canned music/soundtrack (inc. the Pace TVs) on my commute.
Bah Humbug!

I happened to take the 56 bus home after a really long day and found myself on the holiday bus. As an agnostic with a refined sense of aesthetics, I really liked it! I felt as though everyone else on the bus was extra grim, though, refusing to acknowledge the elephant in the room. Put something cheery in front of a bus full of people determined to be cranky, and they'll gripe about it and look extra depressed. Lighten up already, Chicago. Appreciate the happiness and stop whining!