Saturday, January 21, 2012
A Day at the Wells....
Coming back from The Wells the other day I caught the bus which, for me, is a very infrequent occurance. I might even say an alien experience. Being a stranger to this mode of transportation I enquired at the bus stop opposite the Civic Centre as to whether or not the gentlemen's Arriva bus was bound for Tonbridge town. Expecting a courteous reply the driver gestured with his hands towards the front of the bus and informed me "Says High Brooms!" in a rather distasteful and uncourteous manner. Tunbridge Wells in its 18th Century hay day this was not! The driver may as well have said "Are you thick or something mate, can't you bleedin read?!" for that was the tone in which he imparted his travellling information advice. My children have oft told me how blunt these stage coach drivers can be of a morning when they are on there school journeys, how they like their little power trip in a job that is, in all probabilty, otherwise incredibly dull and unfulfilling, but here I was experiencing it first hand. I said to the driver something like; "You are assuming that I know the area and I'm a regular bus user in saying that!" He gestured with a shrug of the shoulders that he didn't care two hoots and that whatever I said it would be water off a duck's back. Amazing how he could impart all that with one shrug of the shoulders but it was definitely all there. So in front of all the bus travellers alighting from his High Brooms bound carriage I'm afraid I shouted rather loudly to the gentlemen that he was, and I quote a "Rude sod!" That told the blighter!...
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5 comments:
I was bus driver for about 3 years at Arriva Tunbridge Wells, but I didn't find the job "incredibly dull and unfulfilling". A little stressful sometimes yes, but on the whole, I quite enjoyed it. During the stressful moments, when the traffic was heavy, and I was running late, I would console myself with the thought that there are worse jobs. Being stuck in an office all day long, or even some back street second hand bookshop! How dull and unfulfilling is that!
Sometimes I would be asked silly questions to. I would pull up at a timetable festooned bus stop with my destination displayed on the front, side and back of my bus and still get asked by at least one person where I was going. I found the best response was along the lines of: "erm, no...but there'll be a 402 along in a minute, that's the one you want". It sounds as if you were unlucky with the driver you spoke to.
Anyway, the next time someone who is a bit of a stranger to the high street mode of shopping blunders into your shop and enquires "Do you sell kettles"? You'll know you can just shrug and say: "It says book shop on my sign outside mate".
Actually, come to think of it, it doesn't say bookshop on the sign outside! Just Mr. Books I think. It is amazing though how many people walk in and ask if it's alright to look around. As if I'm going to say Bugger off can't you see I'm trying to read a book! The bus driver in question I would say was on the edge of a nervous breakdown. Jobs can be so much more fulfilling if you actually do them properly and I would say that, in his case, doing the job properly, as well as not crashing the bus into a low bridge or something, might in part also be helping customers who aren't familiar with what he takes for granted.
If you are becomminga bus user why not use the SouthEast bus and/or train journey planner.
Just enter any two addresses and it will tell you whether to walk, catch a bus or train. Complete with maps and timetables.
Thanks for the above Journey planner. We used it today. It's really good.
Its not me you need to thank for the journey planner - its the previous government who set it up.
Its not just available in the South East, you can google for other regions.
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