I know that a minority of nice bus drivers do probably exist, but for every nice bus driver there are 100 bitter jobsworth bastards that are intent on making your journey as uncomfortable as possible. The next time a bus driver disrespects me I’m going to let him have it….(by getting off the bus and not saying thanks…take that you fucking nazi!) —insulted
This article appears in Mar 20-26, 2014.
I just channeled Albert Speer OP and wanted me to pass on the following:
By your ratio OP that would make for approximately 5.5 nice bus drivers in Halifax. How did the other approximately 544.5 divers disrespect you? Not let you on outside a stop, expect you pay proper fare, object to a monstrously large stroller or Tuba, give up a courtesy seat to someone who needed it, flaunt his/her pay stub to you, etc.? Please flesh out your Bitch with some detail.
Albert is waiting.
Eh, I disagree, OB, with painting the majority of drivers as bitter and bastards.
I’m a regular metro transit user, and more often then not the drivers have been quite pleasant. And if they’re not, they aren’t rude, they’re just quiet. Doesn’t mean they hate their jobs or are bastards — some people are introverted and quiet.
Of course, I get on the bus, say hi, pay my fare, ask for my transfer if I’m using tickets and sit down. Aside from the drivers who screw with the schedule (thanks mr 7:50 52). I don’t bother worrying about the rude drivers. They’re probably miserable enough in their own lives.
And even if they were rude or unfriendly, I really haven’t seen any harass anyone after they were seated. Having an ipod helps. I find the problems on the buses that make the trips unbearable are usually caused by the riders, not the drivers.
The only time I really reported a rude driver was when this one driver wouldn’t let a disabled lady and her companion on the bus when there was plenty of room (it was an ALF bus) and then neglected to help another disabled man at the next terminal get strapped in until he yelled “uh you gotta strap me in!” as the guy was pulling out.
Maybe it was Wheels.
I keep saying it: drivers in Halifax are awesome compared to the number of abusive grumps who drive buses in Ottawa.
OMFG; do ALL bitchers take the bus?
Of course these folk are bitter. They came into the world with the same entitlements as the rest of us but somehow lost their way and opportunities were becoming few and far between so with a drivers license they received at the age of 16 figured they would drive a bus for THE REST OF THEIR LIFE. They are not qualified to drive taxi cabs because that would require some conversational skills with passengers.
I don’t know if all bus drivers are bitter, but still too many of them treat every stop like a panic stop even when there is nothing in front of them. Just look ahead a little. It’s like it only occurs to some that they need to stop as they are 3 feet from the stop. If you look in your mirror and half the people in the bus are almost falling out of their seats, you need to reevaluate your braking techniques.
Well, I can’t speak for all drivers, but Wheels is probably miserable because he can’t find someone to follow him around with a tuba for under $60. per diem
I think there’s one rich guy that does nothing but take every bus route he can everyday so he can have some inspiration to come to these forums and bitch about bus drivers. His parents were killed accidentally by bus drivers when he was young and now he uses his wealth to fight back against bus drivers everywhere and take back the public transit for the people using the power of internet!
^^^Wrong – he’s bitter because Mumsie was inseminated by a bus driver.
They’re so miserable because their union has taken a bunch of their money and created a giant bureaucracy. Pretty much the same thing all unions are after. They collect the money from people who actually do the work so they can give it away to political parties that support unions, fly around going to meetings and conventions, slurping back the union dues in drinks, wining and dining their buddies in other unions, and hotel rooms. They take a bunch of money out for advertising during strikes, rent halls for voting, provide sweet pensions for their bureaucracy, not to mention build giant buildings, with huge operating budgets, to house all this, all on the backs of the workers. I’d be miserable too if my hard earned money was being slurped up by a bunch of entitled do nothings, under the guise of doing me a favor. They blame MT for all the bullshit but, they should be looking at themselves for unionizing.
It’s because they’re not paid enough. Let’s talk about that some more.
Because we are disrespected on a daily basis anywhere from one to a hundred times. What’s your excuse? What did the nasty, disrespectful driver do to you princess?
A deadheading bus is an empty bus and a happy one.
Yours truly.
^^^^^Wheels, when I was training to be a bus driver, in a double decker, we had ‘Training Bus’ clearly displayed up on the front of the bus, we used to laugh as the oompa loompas would break into a waddle waving their flippers trying to make us stop.
Agree, they make us chuck out full double doubles but you see the driver sucking on a tim hortons coffee out of a paper cup and eating his food. Another thing that pisses me off about ye ol’ loser cruiser, is those fucking passengers, usually some cutesy chick, who stand right behind the driver, or right beside him, practically up his ass engaging the driver in conversation. The driver in turn slows his pace and it takes an extra ten minutes to get home. Sit the fuck down and stop distracting the bus driver. I don’t wanna get in an accident because you wanna look cute and important. Sit the fuck down and shut the fuck up.
We no_fool, have cup holders in our office. So stay the hell out of our offices. You as passengers need to have travel mugs to store your coffee, tea or rum and cokes, with a screw on lid so as not to spill it on others or seats. If I spill my coffee on anyone, it will be myself. So like I said, STAY OUT OF MY OFFICE!!! A deadheading bus is an empty bus and a happy one.
Yours truly.
P.S. Yeah Basil F. We had the training sign on as well and lots of people ran for the training buses. Bet they get a lot of complaints from irate people when a training class is driving.:)
Here’s why some are miserable, the next time you’re in WallyWorld gaze around at some of the human livestock and imagine them crammed on the Number 25 and you’re the driver on triple overtime, bursting for a shit.