Now and then, about twice a month I do an early turn. The two big differences between early turns and my more usual middle start are having to set the alarm for some ungodly hour like 5 in the morning and having to go upto the bus park and get a bus out for myself. Usually I just walk down from the depot to the main road and take over a bus. If you are a passenger this can be a pain. Just when you think that you may even get to your destination on time the bus pulls in and an other driver gets on and has a meaningful conversation about traffic, the latest scandal, how usless the boss is, the fact that one of the two drivers has 3 weeks holiday coming up, some really interesting comment one of the drivers made to an irrate passenger in Paignton Bus Station yesterday; you know the sort of thing that Easteners script writers have been using for the last ten years.
I digress, when you take a bus out of the park this is what should greet you as you walk into the park. Buses all facing forward and ready to go. You don't just get on the bus and drive away, first you do a visual check, make sure all the wheels are still on the bus and there are no tramps sleeping on the back seat. That sort of thing, then in the bus and away, full of enthusiasm, ready to greet your passengers with a cheery 'Good morning' and take them safely and speedily to their destinations.
I say should greet you, and for a week it did. The cleaners are supposed to reverse the buses into the park so we can safely drive them out. The boss insisted and I took a photo the next day of the fruits of his insistance. Yesterday when I went to work I took this photo which shows all the buses were facing the wrong way. I get shouted at for walking 10 feet without my yellow jacket on and the cleaners can park 30 buses the wrong way round and no one notices.
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