“”Avast ye … how arrrrre you?… welcome aboard, matey!””
Guardian
Nope, you’re not at the Pirates of the Caribbean. And it’s not Halloween yet. It’s the UCSD Regents Shuttle and that’s your driver talking — senior John Muir College student Debbie Evans, aka “”Pirate Debbie.””
With a red bandana, a black eye patch, a hook on her hand and a furry, multicolored parrot next to the wheel, Pirate Debbie has been making waves as a UCSD shuttle driver since her sophomore year. She greets every rider heartily, occasionally exclaims “”salty seadogs,”” and has been known to do her hook, peg leg and eye patch dance, much to the delight of old riders and bewilderment of new ones.
So what’s the story behind the buccaneer business?
“”It all started my senior of high school,when my friend told a joke: ‘How did the pirate cross the road?’… ‘In a carrrrrrr,”” Evans said.
“”I laughed for an hour,”” Evans said. “”It was so great that I started to make pirate jokes out of everything. I had to spread the pirate joy to everyone.””
Debbie’s favorite ride at Disneyland had always been — you guessed it –Pirates of the Caribbean, but after hearing her friend’s pirate joke, her interest in pirates rose to a new level. Debbie and her friend carried on with more pirate jokes, once even coming up with 60 of them on a trip to England. Her friends started buying pirate paraphernalia for her. Her father clipped newspaper stories about real-world pirates. Then, during her freshman year at UCSD, her friend said, “”You should be a pirate shuttle driver!”” So she did.
“”I had illustrious plans,”” Evans said. “”I was going to have super-soakers under the seats, attack the other shuttles …”” Though she never actually took it that far, Evans has still gotten a lot of attention. Case in point: As students board the shuttle, many greet her with a friendly “”hi.”” “”Arrrrren’t you lucky to have me as your shuttle driver,”” she says. “”Always!”” answers a student.
“”It’s not just for my enjoyment,”” Evans said. “”At 7:30 in the morning, it’s hard for everybody. But then I [do my pirate thing and] get some smiles from little kids that ride sometimes, too. It warms my heart. My hearrrrrrrt,”” Evans said with a laugh.
But it wasn’t always smooth sailing for Pirate Debbie. Initially, the Shuttle Center did not allow her to drive dressed in her pirate garb.
“”[They] felt it was unprofessional,”” Evans said. In protest, she changed her bandana to include a sticker that said, “”censored.”” Many of her fellow shuttle friends put up signs to express their solidarity. Finally, the office held a vote, resulting in Evans’ favor.
“”I fought the law, and I won,”” she said.
There was also some controversy about her parrot, which Debbie introduces as Henry, or Hank for short.
“”[The shuttle center] felt it was a safety issue, but I wore him on my right shoulder,”” Evans said.
Since Hank wasn’t really a threat to visibility, he stayed. Since then, Debbie hasn’t had any problems from the head honchos. In fact, she’s been voted “”Best Wave”” — an award given by her peer shuttle drivers — two years in a row.
So what’s in Pirate Debbie’s future? Will she carry her pirate persona on to bigger stages?
“”I don’t know,”” Evans said. “”I’d hope it would make me a cool mom. I don’t know how it would fit into my career, but jokes are always useful; everyone has a little pirate inside of them dying to come out.””
One joke that resonates with the students here is: “”What’s the least favorite thing for a UCSD student to do?”” “”Find parrrrrrking.”” But with Pirate Debbie around, hopefully it’ll be a little more fun.
As the shuttle comes to a stop, the riders thank her, and Debbie responds, “”My pleasurrrrre.””
