From Playwright to Bus Driver, This Darby Man Did a Pandemic Pivot

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Muhammed Bilal Islam driving his SEPTA bus in Upper Darby.
Image via Jose F. Moreno, The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Muhammed Bilal Islam driving his SEPTA bus in Upper Darby.

Muhammad Bilal “Bi” Islam of Darby used to see stories everywhere, a possible occupational hazard as a playwright. 

Now the pandemic has ended that career and he’s driving a bus for SEPTA, writes Jane M. Von Bergen for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

“If I put my mind to it, I could find the stories,” he said. “But my mind is not there. You have to watch the fare. You have to watch the people get on the bus. You have to watch the traffic lights. There is so much.”

Islam was working on six shows in production when theaters closed in March 2020. Money grew tight, even with his wife’s salary.

The 59-year-old started at SEPTA in January

For Islam, the pivot has not been easy emotionally.

“I’m not going to say it was hard to take the job, but it was hard to make the decision to change my life,” he said.  “When I got to that point where it just wasn’t happening anymore, I knew I had to get a job — a real job,”

“I don’t see theater changing for me no time soon. I can’t hold on to it.”

Read more at The Philadelphia Inquirer about Muhammed Bilal Islam.

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Kevin O’Leary from “Shark Tank” talks about how to do a career pivot during the pandemic.

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