Day Off

As you can see it's blowing a gale and raining on my day off so it's down to The Cider Press for a nice warm fire and a cold beer. I've got an other day off today and it looks a bit brighter and the wind has gone so I might go for a ride on a bus somewhere.
The letter below isn't from the Herald Express but from the Times Of Malta and it shows that not all bus services are as good as our's.

(Sunday, January 13, 2008)Stranded passengers' saga
Last Friday week I was caught up in one of the most outrageous traffic accidents ever - that is how it felt as I sat in a bus waiting for someone to let it pass to get to its destination.
6.20 p.m. The No. 42 bus (Valletta-San Ġwann) stops at Rue d'Argens in Gzira, because of an accident which happened right in front of the traffic lights - one of many that happen there.It is ridiculous that in the narrowest of streets, at an intersection, traffic runs from four different directions. Our driver turns off the engine as passengers gullibly accept that he cannot pass.
6.40 p.m. We are still there and now in the dark, as the driver also switches off the lights in the bus. As we wait, not so patiently, we find out that no one has called a warden yet. We decide to tell the driver to take a detour so that we can bypass the scene of the accident.
First, he complains about missing one bus stop. We realise this is not true. He then tells us that his is a wide bus and cannot go through.And this is when it happens. A huge coach overtakes us. It seems that our bus is causing the problem. We later find out that this was his last trip and that he wanted to go home. He lies to us by saying that another bus is going to take a detour to take us on board, when lo and behold he passes through that gap in the road to go home.
It is now 7.20 p.m.Someone decides to call a warden but is told that they have too much to do and will not come. As someone else decides to call we realise they are not picking up the phone.At either end of Rue d'Argens there are two police stations, yet no police officer came out to see what happened or help ease the congested traffic. The bus we have been sent on switches off its engine and does not move either.
It is now 7.45 and we are told to catch another bus from a different bus stop. Since everyone complains, we stay put.The wardens arrive, ever so calmly. They spend a good 20 minutes taking photos as they relax and chat among themselves. On the other side, a group of bus drivers joke about how everyone got stuck. Only one dispatcher tries to help the passengers. We are then told to shift to another bus. The bus that we finally get onto also stalls for a good 10 minutes until it is finally allowed to pass.There was complete and utter lack of respect for passengers stranded in a bus trying to reach their destination. The bus drivers acted with complete disregard for the passengers, as did all those who did nothing for the first half hour. The wardens too failed miserably.Is this what we call public transport? Do those who intend to use public transport have to board the bus three hours earlier to get to their destination on time, just because of bus drivers' lack of discipline?Incidentally, I finally arrived at my destination an hour late after I had left home an hour early.