A couple of days a go a young man approached the bus in Brixham and asked me when I was going. I replied "Now", and started the engine. He asked me to wait for his mate. I asked him where his mate was and he said,"There." and pointed. As I could not see any one coming towards the bus I politely told him it was time for me to go. He got on the bus and tried to make me wait, but there was still no sign of his mate so I explained that if he stayed on the bus I would leave with him but without his mate. He got of the bus and stated his belief that my mother and father were not married, at least not to each other. Plus one or two other remarks about his imagined knowledge of my sexual practices.
Now if you wonder why bus drivers some times wont wait a few seconds while you come running up at the last minute let me tell you about what had happened earlier that day. I had arrived in Paignton heading for Torquay and Newton. There had been 25 people at the stop and I had loaded up and was just about to leave, now a minute down. A minute late doesn't matter too much.
Just as I closed the doors and elderly couple came hurrying up to the bus and I opened the doors to let them on. He got on, looked how full the bus was and said to his wife, "Oh no, the bus is full. Lets wait for the next one." She meanwhile had disappeared down to the back of the bus with 3 bags of shopping. He moaned a bit down the bus at her but she wasn't getting the next bus. (Little did she Know).
He then searched through his pockets for their return tickets, didn't find them, went down the bus to wife who said he must have lost them. He decided to buy two more tickets and searched through his pockets for some money, didn't find any, went down the bus to wife for some money. She had meanwhile found the tickets, he had a moan at her,He brought the tickets to me, I looked at them, Waterside the Paignton return.
Now you may remember (if you have a good memory) that earlier in this story I told you I was heading for Torquay. Unfortunately Waterside is in the direction of Brixham. I told him, he didn't believe me, his wife didn't believe me, This is a number 12 bus and the number 12 bus goes to Waterside. True said I but it goes to Torquay and Newton first and will take 2 1/2 hours to get to Waterside. If you get the 12 heading for Brixham
it will take 10 minutes. They got off.
Meanwhile 15 more people were waiting to get on the bus so I left Paignton not 1 minute late but 8 minutes late. Now when you are that late you are picking up some people who should have been catching the bus behind and you are also picking up people who have been waiting any thing up to 18 minuets for you. So you are picking a lot more people up and dropping a lot more people off and all this takes longer.
There had been over sixty people on the bus when I had first shut the doors and before I got to Newton I picked up at least and other 50 people. Also I was so late in to Newton that the next bus had past me and cleared the Stand in Shearbourne Road for me, They meant the people waiting in Newton were starting their journey 10 minutes late. I was still 5 minutes late by the time I got back to Paignton. All together because I had opened the doors and let the elderly couple on in Paignton about 120 people had been delayed by about 10 minutes each. A total of 20 hours. Just to save the couple with the shoping a wait of 9 minutes.
So next time the bus pulls away just before you arrive at the bus stop and the driver sees you, but carries on going, you know why.
But then of course the driver could just be a mean ....ing bastard!
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