With his usual sympathy he greets everyone who rides one of the buses on route six of the Urban Bus Company in Holguín. His name is popular among those who live in the Nuevo Llano community, in the Sanfield district and beyond, because this driver responds well to the nickname that everyone recognizes: Santo.
"I started in Urban Buses in 1984 and although I spent seven years working in Moa, I came back and to this day. I really like this job and I enjoy helping people," says Santo Batista Rodríguez, a holguinero with more than 30 years of experience as a driver.
"To work with the public you must have an affable temperament, good treatment and be very patient because here you find everything," he says without losing sight of the road while I, from the seat closest to him catch ideas, blather and greetings to everyone who rides. "Look journalist, for example, one has to make sure that the 20 cents of the guagua are paid, but if a person tells me that he doesn't have them, why should he be mistreated, he asserts, although he clarifies that there are "cases and cases...".
Santo has witnessed difficult moments in the situation of public transportation in Holguín and throughout Cuba, but he has never lost his smile and the jocularity that distinguishes him.
"I have driven the Yutong buses, the Girón, even an ambulance driver, I have been around the city of Gibara. We drivers have to, in addition to driving, split into mechanics and help as much as possible, because the bus is like part of the family", and a laugh escapes him just before saying: "Pretty girl, move there, collaborate with others".
"In my years of experience I've never had a traffic accident and I try to instill that in the drivers I train, because I'm also a car school instructor. You have to be prudent and respectful on the road," the conversation continues.
Antonia Menéndez Rodríguez, who is a regular passenger, comes up to me and doesn't hesitate to praise Santo's work, because "there aren't two like him, he helps everyone and always has a good face. For one who has to fight daily with public transport is a joy to be greeted and treated well, just as he does.
She coincides with Benito Perez Almanza, Nuevo Llano resident, who recognizes the punctuality of this bus, the good treatment and in general the work done by this driver of route six of the municipality Holguin.
The pleasure of serving the people on foot, its passengers, is the main impulse of this holguinero, and although working with the public is not at all easy, his gift of village people has earned him the appreciation and respect of those who know him as a Saint on wheels.
Comments (0)