Rain Stopped Play

I went down to the Torquay Rugby ground this morning to watch the Under 9 team play (Sponsored by Stagecoach Devon and the Belgrave Hotel). As you can see there was a severe lack of activity, no throwing around of odd shaped balls going on any where. Mind you, there had been a lot of rain over night so I wasn't too surprised.

I managed to upset a couple of passengers the other day and I wasn't even on the bus. I had gone down to the Newton Road close to the depot to take over a 12A coming from Newton. The bus was due at 15:55 so I had arrived at the stop 4 or 5 minutes before it was due. 3 or 4 minutes later a number 12A arrived at the stop but it wasn't mine; it was the bus in front of mine. The driver told me that the Newton Road through Kingskerswell was 'chocker', a usual state for this road. All roads have a point where they will grind to almost a halt due to volume of traffic, the Newton Road seems to reach this point a lot more often than most roads in the area. (Please note HM Government, please give us a by pass round Kingskerswell). So I sat down expecting a long wait for my bus which would now be an other 15 minutes. I wasn't disappointed in my expectation.

While I was waiting two people came out of Regent Close and began walking in the direction of the bus stop. Please note; walking towards a bus stop does not mean that you want the bus, putting your hand out does. They were 30 yards from the bus stop and one of them looked round. there was a bus in the distance and I had stood up in the hope that it was mine. No chance, as it got closer I could see it was a 12, I was after a 12A. So I sat down again, a sure sign that I did not want the bus. The two people were still walking quiet slowly in the direction of the bus stop, apparently without a care in the world. Until the approaching bus went by the stop at a steady 29.9 mph. Then and only then did they give any indication that they wanted the bus and then by swearing, loudly, I guess in Polish.

What I assume had happened was they saw me at the stop and expected the bus to stop and pick me up and they could have wandered up and got on the bus after me. Now the next bus should be the one I was taking over and due any minute. But the traffic on the Newton Road can come to a stop at the drop of a hat, especially at school run time when mum goes out to pick the kids up from school in a 4WD that is only slightly smaller than a bus and my bus took an other 12 minutes to arrive. And it was a cold day with a driving wind and steady drizzle with the 3 of us huddled in a stony silence in a very small bus shelter.

Moral of the story; if you want a bus then tell the driver. You can do this by concentrating very hard and thinking, ' I want the bus to stop.' over and over again until there is a danger that your brain will start to dribble out your ears in the hope that the bus driver is a mind reader.

Or you can put your hand out.

PS I am not the only driver who has problems with passengers not indicating that they want the bus, read busdriver jimmy for his account of the problem.