Wee Wee Wee All The Way Home
I fought back the tears all the way across the parking lot. I had a rough day of it (and it's technically not over yet) today. I thought things were going quite well. My passenger loads were light for the better part of the morning. I'd say my first three hours were cake. Then the crazies came out.
I suppose I should have expected it. It is a Saturday and I was running what we call "main line". It's the busiest of pretty much all routes, probably because it's so convenient for so many people. And of course, being a sunny bright and beautiful Saturday, they came out of the woodwork in droves.
Little by little I managed to get further behind schedule. When I realized I was running more than ten minutes late I called into the dispatcher to let him know what my status was. The curt response I received started the downward spiral for the rest of my shift.
I know he didn't mean anything more than just what he said which was "Okay thanks." But for some reason my ears heard sarcasm and sass. Anyhow. So I kept going, trying like hell to catch up, only to fall even further behind. I picked up a couple of wheelchair bound passengers and one guy who had just had a broken leg casted, all of which makes for slow going.
Next thing I know I'm nearly 20 minutes behind schedule even with my very serious attempts to catch up. I called in again when I arrived at the transit mall, figuring the driver waiting for my bus at the garage would appreciate knowing I was running really behind. But again, I got a curt response from dispatch followed by static filled dead air.
Ok... so I just did what I could to get there as quickly and safely as possible. Then came along the drunk guy. He didn't seem drunk when he got on the bus, paid his fare, etc. But apparently he'd been pestering passengers ever since I'd picked him up. I didn't know it, no one had made any attempt to tell me he was being bothersome and I never heard anything that indicated that he was becoming a problem.
Yet, when we arrived at the transit mall and I opened the doors to let those out who were at their final destination for the day, all hell broke loose. People moaned and complained as they disembarked the bus about the guy. Apparently he'd tried to remove some one's baby from a car seat, tried to sit ON someone because he couldn't find a seat, etc.
Of course, as everyone else made their way off the bus he was having a grand ol' time annoying those that remained.
"Hey buddy you getting off the bus, I gotta get a move on here?" I asked him loudly enough for everyone left on the bus to have heard.
"Yeah, yeah I'm getting off, but first I am gonna say something to this guy here..." he slurs back as he points at a guy in a wheelchair.
"I think you'd probably just better get moving buddy, I gotta roll." I said quickly but politely.
"(expletives) I'm getting off (expletives)..." as he stumbles around trying to apparently orient himself with which way he needs to go to get through the door.
"C'mon man, let's go these people wanna get home."
I'm starting to get aggrivated at this point and it's getting difficult to continue to be polite.
"(excessive expletives) (middle finger in the air as he finally exits the bus, holding it high as he walks in front of the bus and THANK GAWD he's not my problem any longer)"
I apologized to the folks left on the bus for not having realized he was being a nuissance before we got to the transit mall. I then released the parking brake, put the bus in gear and left to continue to my route.
I swear... I know I handled it as well as I could. I was nice but firm and I feel like overall I dealt with the situation to the best of my ability. But (expletives!!) I don't like it. I'm sure no one likes dealing with crap like that but I'm seriously bend out of shape about it.
So I had another 15 minutes to stew over it. Then I got off the bus as the relief driver got on and I smiled best I could, wished him luck for his run and headed into the garage.
Inside, I had a less than pleasant conversation with the dispatcher who told me I "think too much" and that bus driving just isn't for everyone (among other things). I'm sure he was just trying to help or whatever but to me it came off a little harsh. Of course I was already in a mood, maybe took it the wrong way, but whatever. It was at the point that he told me to "stop thinking" that I was curt with a short "good-bye" as I turned on my heels and headed for the door.
Thankful that I met no one on my walk from the building to the car, because I was fighting soooo hard to keep the tears at bay until I was at least inside my car where I could kind of hide my meltdown.
I cried the whole way home. The stress of it flowing down my cheeks. I walked in and felt a bit of relief. But then again, I have to be back to work in a couple hours and there is always a chance it will happen all over again.
I suppose I should have expected it. It is a Saturday and I was running what we call "main line". It's the busiest of pretty much all routes, probably because it's so convenient for so many people. And of course, being a sunny bright and beautiful Saturday, they came out of the woodwork in droves.
Little by little I managed to get further behind schedule. When I realized I was running more than ten minutes late I called into the dispatcher to let him know what my status was. The curt response I received started the downward spiral for the rest of my shift.
I know he didn't mean anything more than just what he said which was "Okay thanks." But for some reason my ears heard sarcasm and sass. Anyhow. So I kept going, trying like hell to catch up, only to fall even further behind. I picked up a couple of wheelchair bound passengers and one guy who had just had a broken leg casted, all of which makes for slow going.
Next thing I know I'm nearly 20 minutes behind schedule even with my very serious attempts to catch up. I called in again when I arrived at the transit mall, figuring the driver waiting for my bus at the garage would appreciate knowing I was running really behind. But again, I got a curt response from dispatch followed by static filled dead air.
Ok... so I just did what I could to get there as quickly and safely as possible. Then came along the drunk guy. He didn't seem drunk when he got on the bus, paid his fare, etc. But apparently he'd been pestering passengers ever since I'd picked him up. I didn't know it, no one had made any attempt to tell me he was being bothersome and I never heard anything that indicated that he was becoming a problem.
Yet, when we arrived at the transit mall and I opened the doors to let those out who were at their final destination for the day, all hell broke loose. People moaned and complained as they disembarked the bus about the guy. Apparently he'd tried to remove some one's baby from a car seat, tried to sit ON someone because he couldn't find a seat, etc.
Of course, as everyone else made their way off the bus he was having a grand ol' time annoying those that remained.
"Hey buddy you getting off the bus, I gotta get a move on here?" I asked him loudly enough for everyone left on the bus to have heard.
"Yeah, yeah I'm getting off, but first I am gonna say something to this guy here..." he slurs back as he points at a guy in a wheelchair.
"I think you'd probably just better get moving buddy, I gotta roll." I said quickly but politely.
"(expletives) I'm getting off (expletives)..." as he stumbles around trying to apparently orient himself with which way he needs to go to get through the door.
"C'mon man, let's go these people wanna get home."
I'm starting to get aggrivated at this point and it's getting difficult to continue to be polite.
"(excessive expletives) (middle finger in the air as he finally exits the bus, holding it high as he walks in front of the bus and THANK GAWD he's not my problem any longer)"
I apologized to the folks left on the bus for not having realized he was being a nuissance before we got to the transit mall. I then released the parking brake, put the bus in gear and left to continue to my route.
I swear... I know I handled it as well as I could. I was nice but firm and I feel like overall I dealt with the situation to the best of my ability. But (expletives!!) I don't like it. I'm sure no one likes dealing with crap like that but I'm seriously bend out of shape about it.
So I had another 15 minutes to stew over it. Then I got off the bus as the relief driver got on and I smiled best I could, wished him luck for his run and headed into the garage.
Inside, I had a less than pleasant conversation with the dispatcher who told me I "think too much" and that bus driving just isn't for everyone (among other things). I'm sure he was just trying to help or whatever but to me it came off a little harsh. Of course I was already in a mood, maybe took it the wrong way, but whatever. It was at the point that he told me to "stop thinking" that I was curt with a short "good-bye" as I turned on my heels and headed for the door.
Thankful that I met no one on my walk from the building to the car, because I was fighting soooo hard to keep the tears at bay until I was at least inside my car where I could kind of hide my meltdown.
I cried the whole way home. The stress of it flowing down my cheeks. I walked in and felt a bit of relief. But then again, I have to be back to work in a couple hours and there is always a chance it will happen all over again.
Comments