To the stupid girl with the red purse on the 1 to mumford Monday during rush hour –
You are an idiot. You consciously got on this bus, and then when it started taking too long, you hummed and hawed and stomped your foot and said ‘seriously?!’and acted like a total sulk loud enough for other bus patrons to notice.
Yeah, traffic sucks. Yeah, riding the bus sucks. But you were the one who chose to get on a bus with one of the busiest and most traffic ridden routes at rush hour.
Stop being impatient and acting like a brat. Your time is not worth more than the rest of the people riding on buses during rush hour.
—Patience is a virtue
This article appears in Nov 5-11, 2009.
I don’t understand why anyone takes the bus. Go buy a car!
In our society of instant gratification, I’m surprised there aren’t more of these spoiled little morons bleating their discontent. But it’s nothing an aluminum bat across the shins couldn’t cure.
I was on a bus a few weeks ago that was held up because there was a jumper on the bridge that the police were trying to talk down. A guy on the bus was yelling and cursing at the driver that he was running late and wanted to get home. The driver explained to him that the police had closed the bridge down because there was an incident and he couldn’t do anything about it. The yeller kept insisting that there should be a way around the problem and that it was ridiculous that the busses had to stop, and so on and so on. He was very abusive to the poor driver and irritating to the other passengers.
I was next to one of these this morning on the 6. A woman sitting beside me must have checked her watch every 15 seconds for approximately 25 minutes. Then the huffing starts and the agitation, the bouncing around in her seat like she’s got ants in her pants. I just wanted to smack her. Sit back and enjoy the ride or get on an earlier bus if you have somewhere important to go!!
Maybe she had to pee?
The only time I ever get impatient on the bus is when people are acting like idiots and do shit like, make the bus stop to ask them when another route should be arriving, or asking if the 52 BAYERS LAKE is going to BAYERS LAKE (not once, but twice). Or people who are standing at the stop (and don’t look like they were rushing to get the bus either) and don’t have their fare ready and have to dig through their OMG HUGE bags to find 2.25 or their bus pass. Could you not have done that while waiting for said bus (or had it ready before you leave — I always do that: make sure my fare is accessible upon bus entry).
Other than that you take your chances with traffic and people getting on and off while taking MASS transit.
Some people really do think mass transit means “my own personal chauffeur.” *shakes head*
Yeah, this is why I stick to the ferry now.
PK— I hate it when people do that too. Especially considering most drivers don’t start drive off till the fare is paid. The they go searching through the inevitably massive lululemon bag they’re using for a purse. There’s no reason why someone should shout at a driver, especially if they’re not at fault. It would have been only made better if the driver tossed her for creating a disturbance.
Trust me, we hate sitting in traffic just as much as everyone else. People who don’t have their fare handy (and who have been there a while) make me slowly burn inside, at least until I tell them to have a seat and get me en route. Then I’m pleasant again.
Sebastien, seriously??!! I own a car but work downtown. Let’s do the math, monthly bus pass = $70 / month. Parking at let’s say Scotia Square = maybe $200-300 / month.
Pretty Kitty: Ever since I got on a bus that had the wrong destination showing on the display, I usually ask where the bus is going if I’m not entirely sure. Oh and that bus was the 52.
sebastian_: I’d love to buy a car. You gonna give me the money?
How can you get on a 52 going the wrong way when stops are on the opposite sides of the street/terminal or the bus only goes around that section of the route in one direction (ie. Teletech in BL or MacDonald Ave. in B’side)?
Pavillion, with the police busy with the jumper, the passengers should have thrown the idiot over the bridge. LOL. What maroons.
You’d be amazed VOR how often people mix up the 52s at Mumford & Lacewood despite the 2 directions stopping in different spots. The last person who mixed them up at Mumford never bothered to ask me anything until I was in Bayers Lake. Every once in a while, you get new drivers coming out too 😉
BRoc,
it’s about $130 a month at the Square, which is still rather insane, though not as bad as the 15 bucks I paid to park there for 4 hours. You’d be better to get a spot at a nearby apartment building and suffer the elements for a few minutes. apartment over/underground spots 5-10 min walk downtown can be as low as $45 a month. sucks to walk in rain/snow but worth $25 IMO.
Trust me, it’s easy to mix up the buses if you’re a newcomer to the city and didn’t grow up with public transit. At the time, I was unaware the buses stopped at different corners (i.e Lacewood) depending on which direction they’re going. In my case, the bus parked next to Gamestop and was displaying Bayer’s Lake.
Once I was on this bus that stopped especially for these girls to get on after it had already started to leave. One girl gets on with a full late not in a travel mug and when the driver told her she had to throw it out she stood there for a while drinking it while her friend sat there looking embarrassed. She took her sweet time throwing it out and then spent the rest of the bus ride in a loud huff about how its ridiculous that people cant bring hot beverages in flimsy cups onto a bus.
I remember one day I was on the 61 coming home, and a guy was standing by the driver, listening to music (I could hear it). When the driver asked him to turn it down he got sarcastic asking why he should turn his music down.
Some people jus need a good smack across the head
It’s not so much the questions about what direction the bus is going, I can understand that (especially if someone’s new to the city) — but for the rest of the “do you go to *insert destination here*” questions GET A FUCKING TRANSIT MAP.
When I moved back I had no idea which routes were which, and I got a transit map and I didn’t have any issues and never once have I had to ask a driver if they go here or there. Halifax’s bus system is amazingly easy to navigate, especially in comparison to Ottawa’s which….requires a PhD to understand….thank GOD they have a travel planner on their website!
Hey PDG – I was on the 52 from Bayers Lake the other day, and the driver goes, to a passenger, “hey, where’s Mumford Road? I didn’t pass it, did I?” Bahaha