Last Argument of 2011

It is only fitting to report that my last argument of the year took place on New Year's Eve. Not only that, it occurred while working the last journey of the particular journey I was working. I was departing a bus station at 1600, though as it was the last bus for two days, reversed off the bay at 1601. A passenger on board yelled out that someone was running towards the bus and as I was the only bus in the station, assumed he wanted me.

He was an odd sight. I would describe him as a typical geeza, except this wanker was in his 40s and was mincing along. Very odd. Very camp. Perhaps he was one of these gays that I hear talk of. Whether he was or not was not made known to me. I can, though, reveal that he was a complete ignoramus.

Had I been the one running for a bus that should have left a minute ago - and that it was the last one to operate this route for 2 days - I would board and immediately thank the driver for waiting for the sorry spectacle of me gricing along as if I'd shit my pants. Knowing me, I'd probably apologise for delaying the driver. This tosser said nothing of the sort.

"You're going bloody early!" he said.

There was little point in my being polite to him considering his tone. No, he was one of these who thought that he was right no matter what. I was his servant and I was disobeying him. C U NextTuesday - quite literally, as that's when the next bus would have been if I'd not stopped.

Luckily the clock on the bus dashboard showed 1601, as did the clock on the ticket machine. I pointed these out to him without getting into an argument. I also offered him my mobile phone, on which was displayed the correct time - guess what it was? 1601.

Rather than accept defeat, knob head said "I've had a triple heart by-pass you know!"

Oh, does that account for your ignorance and bad attitude?

Of course it doesn't. In a move designed to show that he wasn't going to hold the service up anymore than he had done already, I pulled away with him stood at the front and issued his ticket while the vehicle was in motion. That ought to flex his aorta sufficiently.

Common Sense Solution: Passengers regularly run late for buses. It is a fact of life. You cannot change it and there is no point in attempting to. However, when a bus driver does stop for a passenger after leaving a stop - something vehemently frowned upon by the Driving Standards Agency and the Vehicle Operators Safety Agency - the least a driver expects is for the passenger to offer his or her thanks. I put myself in that passenger's shoes. I'd have thanked the driver, even if I felt he may have been departing early. He still did not have to stop and I reckon that when pressed, most bus operators would instruct their drivers NOT to stop for ANY passenger once they've left a stop.