When Sam Mencimer was 10 years old, he took the 54 bus from Takoma to L’Enfant Plaza daily. Every day, he would have a whole host of questions for bus driver Joy Kenley.

And every day, Kenley would answer him as best as she could. Then, one day, she had an idea: “How about a tour of the bus garage?”

“I was like, ‘yes, absolutely!’ I was over the moon!” said Mencimer, now 22. “As a 10-year-old, I thought that was the coolest thing ever.”

Fast forward 11 years, and Mencimer is now all grown up with a college degree and working in Metro’s signal engineering division. Kenley, now a station manager, realized she and Mencimer had the same employer now.

“I would think, ’11 years ago, and he found me.’ And I’m thinking, ‘He’s in a Metro uniform — awesome!'” Kenley said.

A lot has changed sinc

See Full Page