There has been a real outbreak of bus drivers sailing on by, leaving would-be passengers stranded at an ice-bound bus stop.
I first noticed people complaining in the week after Christmas, but I put it down to them not being schooled in the ways of buses – resorting to this mode of travel just because they could not get the car out. Under the rules the bus will not stop unless you stick out your hand to signal to the driver.
Actually this rule also disconcerts people who move away from London, where buses stop unless the red sign marks it clearly as ‘Request Only’; many was the time I stood at a bus stop outside the university, fuming at an inconsiderate driver, until someone explained the strange provincial rule to me.
City bus drivers have to be ruthless to make progress & attempt to keep to the timetable in the midst of all the congestion. Out in the country however the rule tends to be honoured in the breach, with drivers at least slowing to check, or even waiting for those they recognise as regulars who are approaching a stop. I have even had one driver ‘hope I didn’t mind’ him tooting his horn to drag my attention away from the newspaper article in which I had allowed myself to get too absorbed to notice his arrival.
But this sailing on by has happened to me 1½ times these past two weeks, so something is definitely going on.
I can think of two possible reasons. The first is that for some reason the drivers have become unhappy & bolshie, dissatisfied with management & just going through the motions of doing the job – something very similar happened on the local trains after privatisation, though that seems mostly to have been cured recently.
The other reason is the weather.
Suddenly the concentration has to be all on the condition of the road ahead, distracting attention away from what is standing waiting for you on the pavement.
I tend to believe the second explanation.
We are all distracted, befuddled & bemused some of the time as we adjust our routines to cope with these exigencies.
I missed my stop coming home on Tuesday night. Even when the driver stopped anyway & called out ‘This is your stop’ it took me a while to realise he meant me – the windows are now so dirty it was impossible to see outside.
But it proves that drivers have not lost their consideration & concern.
