The Know-it-all
I picked up a passenger the other day who seemed very nice, yet a little on the overly friendly side. As I made my way along the route picking up more and more passengers, I realized that overly friendly wasn't really her mojo. No, she was a know-it-all.
At one point during the trip I had about 25 people on the bus and faintly heard music coming from close by. I glanced up into my passenger mirror to see if I could see anyone with an iPod or something similar that might be the source of the noise. Mind you, it's against the rules to have food/drink, radios, or smoke on our city buses.
The know-it-all apparently saw me check the mirror because she then said:
"It's this guy ma'am. He's got headphones on but his music is way too loud. Do you want me to ask him to turn it down?"
As she said the words she wagged her finger in his direction on a fully extended arm like the little tattle-tale that she obviously was. I noticed in the mirror that the guy gave her a death-stare that would have made a baby cry. Of course, being a kinder passenger than the know-it-all he turned down his music, moved to a vacant seat near the back of the bus and kept quiet for the rest of the trip.
The know-it-all, however, seemed only to get louder and more annoying than the low drone of the guys music ever would have.
A little further down the road I picked up an elderly man in a wheelchair. It takes about 2 minutes to get a wheelchair loaded and secured on the bus. Provided that the person can maneuver his/her wheelchair and that the securement equipment functions properly.
But having Miss Know-it-All along for the ride turned a two minute stow and go into a nearly five minute ordeal. She wanted to "help", and in doing so she ordered several passengers to "get out of the way". I politely asked her to step aside while I got the guy into position. But instead she wanted to hover over me, crowding me, telling me step by step what needed to be done to secure the passenger.
Other passengers snickered at her annoying behavior, shook their heads and gazed at me with an immense amount of pity. They knew she was inhibiting my progress and slowing down an already late bus. But there was nothing anyone could do, aside from something illegal like bind and gag her or knock her unconscious. She clearly wasn't listening to me when I asked her to "please move, please give me space, please have a seat so I could do my bus driver duty".
Once I finally managed to get the guy in the wheelchair secured and get back on the road, I thought she'd pipe down and just enjoy the rest of the ride. Yeah, no... not so much.
Instead she decided to talk loudly about how another bus driver had trained her to help stow wheelchairs so as to help out from time to time. And that she was told by another bus driver that she was a true asset to all bus drivers because of her expansive knowledge of the bus system, routes, and procedures. She claimed to have been riding the bus for over twelve years and that even though she wasn't as frequent of a rider in recent weeks, she still considered herself a "drivers' assistant" when she did ride. Somehow, I don't think anyone else that drives our city buses finds her helpful.
Other passengers just grunted as she spoke, trying to get through the rest of the ride without mobbing her. I saw so many eyes rolled, heads shaken in disbelief, and whispers passed between pairs of passengers that by the time we got to the end of the line, I was laughing inside like a hyena.
It WAS annoying but at the same time it was just too funny. Sure she got in my way and then annoyed myself and the rest of the passengers for a LONG ride to the final destination, but at least she provided blog-worthy entertainment.
Thanks Miss Know-it-All.
At one point during the trip I had about 25 people on the bus and faintly heard music coming from close by. I glanced up into my passenger mirror to see if I could see anyone with an iPod or something similar that might be the source of the noise. Mind you, it's against the rules to have food/drink, radios, or smoke on our city buses.
The know-it-all apparently saw me check the mirror because she then said:
"It's this guy ma'am. He's got headphones on but his music is way too loud. Do you want me to ask him to turn it down?"
As she said the words she wagged her finger in his direction on a fully extended arm like the little tattle-tale that she obviously was. I noticed in the mirror that the guy gave her a death-stare that would have made a baby cry. Of course, being a kinder passenger than the know-it-all he turned down his music, moved to a vacant seat near the back of the bus and kept quiet for the rest of the trip.
The know-it-all, however, seemed only to get louder and more annoying than the low drone of the guys music ever would have.
A little further down the road I picked up an elderly man in a wheelchair. It takes about 2 minutes to get a wheelchair loaded and secured on the bus. Provided that the person can maneuver his/her wheelchair and that the securement equipment functions properly.
But having Miss Know-it-All along for the ride turned a two minute stow and go into a nearly five minute ordeal. She wanted to "help", and in doing so she ordered several passengers to "get out of the way". I politely asked her to step aside while I got the guy into position. But instead she wanted to hover over me, crowding me, telling me step by step what needed to be done to secure the passenger.
Other passengers snickered at her annoying behavior, shook their heads and gazed at me with an immense amount of pity. They knew she was inhibiting my progress and slowing down an already late bus. But there was nothing anyone could do, aside from something illegal like bind and gag her or knock her unconscious. She clearly wasn't listening to me when I asked her to "please move, please give me space, please have a seat so I could do my bus driver duty".
Once I finally managed to get the guy in the wheelchair secured and get back on the road, I thought she'd pipe down and just enjoy the rest of the ride. Yeah, no... not so much.
Instead she decided to talk loudly about how another bus driver had trained her to help stow wheelchairs so as to help out from time to time. And that she was told by another bus driver that she was a true asset to all bus drivers because of her expansive knowledge of the bus system, routes, and procedures. She claimed to have been riding the bus for over twelve years and that even though she wasn't as frequent of a rider in recent weeks, she still considered herself a "drivers' assistant" when she did ride. Somehow, I don't think anyone else that drives our city buses finds her helpful.
Other passengers just grunted as she spoke, trying to get through the rest of the ride without mobbing her. I saw so many eyes rolled, heads shaken in disbelief, and whispers passed between pairs of passengers that by the time we got to the end of the line, I was laughing inside like a hyena.
It WAS annoying but at the same time it was just too funny. Sure she got in my way and then annoyed myself and the rest of the passengers for a LONG ride to the final destination, but at least she provided blog-worthy entertainment.
Thanks Miss Know-it-All.
Comments
(edited this comment to remove names to protect the innocent)