Idiots, Screaming Kids... And Oh Yeah...

It's Saturday. Normally, this means that a shift at work is going to be overly hard work, with short turn-round times, loads of traffic, and short meal reliefs...

Imagine my vast relief when I found out it was to be a short shift, two rounds only, with close to an hour meal relief!

Unfortunately, the feeling was not to last long.

First trip...

For practically half the trip, I had the Screaming Brat From Hell on the bus. Not even two years old, and probably already the less-than-proud owner of a noise abatement order, her lungs could likely as not have out-blown the brass section of the London Symphony Orchestra. And she was on my bus. My ears are still ringing, hours later as I write this on the way home. Or was that the bus stop bell?

Second trip...

It's normally Sundays when white van man makes even amateurs look talented. Not this one, though. This git was on the other side of the road, and pulled right in front of me, across my front, causing to have to stand on the anchors, lean on the horn, and hope like heck that I could stop in time. The cussing of the punters on the bus attested to how close a shave it was, and on of my safety razor blades *might* have fitted in the gap once I managed to stop. How I didn't broadside the twat is a matter of discussion for my now somewhat paler passengers. And no, he never indicated, said sorry, or even acknowledged my being there, he just carried on regardless into the loading bay alley he was aiming for, the bastard. Unfortunately, I never got his vans registration number, or I'd number and shame him here.

At this point, it was my meal relief time, and much needed it was, too. Amazing how a bit of food tends to help you unwind for a short while...

Trip three...

This time, it was a minicab driver, and I DID get his number. AD08CVW, you are a bloody dangerous ****wit of the worst order, having overtaken me in the face of oncoming traffic.

Again, I was forced to brake hard to avoid being forced off the road by this miserable excuse for a motorist. I have no idea what my passengers thought of this gormless pea-brained halfwit, but I know what I thought, and as it's rather vulgar, I won't repeat it here!

Trip four...

Literally right out of the gate, trip four almost didn't happen.

I'd served the first bus stop - at the western end bus stand - and, having waited patiently for a gap, pulled out, to find that a car, parked just after the stand, had the same idea, but without the right turn indicator being used - who then slammed on her anchors at the pelican light ten yards later which was showing green.

I was still accellerating - thankfully gently - when this git stopped.

An accellerating bus doesn't like stopping suddenly. It tends to confuse the ZF model automatic gearbox, which is still in 'lets get moving' mode. Consequently, hard braking at this juncture is pretty messy, to say the least. It's abrupt, not at all smooth, and bloody uncomfortable. And that's just for the bus driver, who has, at least, got the steering wheel to brace himself against.

The passengers are nowhere near as lucky, and tend to impersonate nodding donkeys, and try headbutting the back of the seats in front of them. The air was definately blue, and not just from my comments. I wasn't able to get the registration number - I was a bit too peed off with the female wotsit to grab my pen and paper, but I'm sure she knew I was a tad frustrated, as the horn on the bus was, for a change, rather a loud one, and I leant on it for a rather long time - this in addition to my and my passengers comments, and I feel sure she knew that she screwed up. Of course, like almost all amateur motorists, she didn't acknowledge either that she'd messed up, or even our very close presence behind her. she merely pootled off to the roundabout the other end of the road, went round it, and came down the road the other way, studiously ignoring everything around her. Typical, that.

So, a usual weekend shift, then.

Thank whatever you might beleive in, that it's my day off tommorrow.

I damn well need it!