This Seat Taken? Notes of a Hapless Commuter

By Anthony Buccino

If you ever commuted to work, you'll enjoy reading Anthony Buccino's collection This Seat Taken? Notes of a Hapless Commuter about the joys and follies of getting to and from work using metropolitan public transit  to reach his news offices in Jersey City and later Midtown Manhattan.

Years' worth of Buccino's bus and rail commuting tales and observations are collected in this 224-page book. You should read it while you are commuting via public transportation.

In 2008, Buccino published Voices on the Bus, Train, Subway, Bus and in My Head, a collection of non-rhyming verse written while commuting from northeastern Essex County to Jersey City, N.J.

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To all the strap hangers and commuters taking public transportation to work because it's cheaper and better for the earth and because, like me, they'd probably run down  annoying, sluggish pedestrians clogging crosswalks,  if we allowed them behind the wheel.

 Happy trails.

… Anthony

On the bus during my morning commute to NYC I'd play Law & Order 'casting director' with the passengers as they boarded.

Jealous wife. Victim's close friend. Guilty looking guy, but not guilty. Man with alibi. Woman on street who was startled when she heard the (scream, gunshot, crash). Old, tired detective who retires next month. Over-eager idiot young detective. Victim's ex. Victim's other ex....

Didn't everybody do this on the bus ??

I was Old man with notepad looking studious.

In three sections

• IS THIS SEAT TAKEN?

• THE PATH WAY TO JERSEY CITY AND NEWARK

• RIDING THOSE BUS LANES

  ---

Contents

THIS SEAT TAKEN?

Third Of July

New Kid On The Bus

Transit And Transitions

I've Been Everywhere In New Jersey

Waiting For The Bus

Railroad Crossing

Ninety-Three Hoover

I Spy With My Little Eye

Trash Eaters On The Train

Ten Local Trips To Take Before I Retire

Underground, Newark City Subway

Ever Notice Those NCS Murals

Murray The Groundhog

NJ Transit Soaks Hapless Commuters

Bank Robber Takes The Bus And Train?

A Day Early to Pay For Sparse Parking Space

Going The Distance Together

Route 74 Bus -- 6:38 To Paterson

The 74 Runs Through It

Another Free Lunch Ends

Fear And Yogurt

Gimme Shelter

The Strangest Thing

The Second Strangest Thing

Newark Subway Backdown

Twelve Miles An Hour

Your Transit Emails

Public Transit Gives Us Reasons To Complain

NJTransit Hits 865,000 Trips a Day

Schadenfreude Gas Prices

On NJTransit, No One Hears You Grumble

Whose Holiday Schedule, You Might Ask

Googling NJ Transit

Saturday Afternoon In Newark On NJ Transit

Why Wait Till June?

National Customer Service Week

Crime At Branchbrook Station

Belleville Unwelcomes Out-of-Town Light Rail Users

Grove Street, End Of The Line

The New Early Shift

The New Early Shift, Part 2

The New Early Shift, Part 3

Taking NJ Transit Bus To Wendy's, Literally

Light Rail, Jersey City

She's Going Back To Cuba

Voices On The Bus

THE PATH WAY TO JERSEY CITY AND NEWARK

Laptop, Who Has A Lap?

Down Public Transit Lane I

Down Public Transit Lane II

While Riding The PATH Train West I And II

The Great Swamp of North Jersey

Lady in Blue Shoes

Fraternity Rock

Jackson Wanna Be

To Maria On the PATH

I’m Not Gepetto

Poor Bishop

Romance on the Rails, Part Duh

PATH Car Away From Ninevah I

PATH Car Away From Ninevah II

PATH Car Away From Ninevah III

PATH Car Away From Ninevah IV

Five Years On The Rails

Platform H -- Wednesday

Preacher Man -- Wednesday II

Rain's Coming -- Wednesday III

Mind The Gap

Inside And Outside

Mark Of The Greasy Door

White Knuckle Rail Traveler

Harrison PATH Station

Had This Been a Real Emergency

Hackensack River Bridge Lift Problem

Nobody Cuts The Blind Guy Any Slack

PATH Cars Are Too Hot

Private Quarters On The PATH Train

Medium-Dead-Zone

Summer Reading List for Railroad Riders

Locomotive Breath

Ninety Minutes In Transit Heaven

Thank You, Stranger On The PATH

Phantom PATH And Acela Dream

Cell Phone Free Fridays

Amtrak Photo Contest, Keep Your Bail Card Handy

New Train Schedule: Commuter From Hapless to Helpless

Jurassic Park And Ride - The Sequel

Egrets And Regrets

Bye-Bye PATH QuickCards

Have You Seen the New PATH cars?

Welcoming a New Bucket of Bolts

Sniffer Test

A Small Part Of A Large Story

RIDING THOSE BUS LANES

Laughing At Traffic From My NJ Transit Bus Perch

What To Wear On A Cold Day Like Today

Oh, The Places You'll Go!

Times Square Tourists Tangle With Ninja Commuter

We're Waiting, Waiting On A Long Ride Home

Did The Woman Fall Under The Bus Today?

Buy The Ticket, Then Board The Bus

No Shortage Of Commute Idiots

Learning To Love The Lincoln Tunnel

Getting Ready To Rumble On Route 192 Local

So Long 192 And Low Fares, Hello 199 And Empty Pockets

NJ Transit Fare Increase Shoots The Moon

Blame This Blogger For 25 Percent NYC Fare Hike

Would-Be Passenger 26 On Route 199 Bus

Hapless Tourists Await NJ Knight In Tin Foil

Welcoming DeCamp Riders To NJ Transit

Commuters Enlist Rockwell, Email, To Save Nutley Bus Stop

NJ Transit Should Study Airlines' Revenue Enhancement

Getting Lost And Found At NJ Transit

Bus Driver McGrumplesteen At Your Service

Flying Through The Lincoln Tunnel

Smoke And Mirror Fares At The Hudson River Crossings

Proud Mary, I Get It

Many of these essays first appeared on NJ.Com NJ Voices

You may also like:

One Morning In Jersey City

Voices on the Bus train, subway, sidewalk and in my head

Travels With Tonoose

HARRISON NEXT  Photography by Anthony Buccino is a time capsule
of the 21st Century mid-revival of Harrison, New Jersey

PATH station, Harrison, NJ. , February 26, 2003 by Anthony Buccino

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