Monday, October 30, 2006

Saga of the "Bus Bitch"

As you all know by now, I drive a transit bus for our county here in area 52. Our system is a "call and make an appointment" system, rather than having regular routes and bus stops.
I have one client who has a standing pickup time of 5:45 pm, Monday thru Thursday. We have a 5 minute wait time after the time the client schedules. The "Bus Bitch" (whom I will refer to as BB) is always late. Most nights I wait anywhere from 9 to 20 minutes on her. Which is against the rules of the transit company. Besides it always makes me late for my next scheduled pickup. But being a nice guy, and knowing that BB doesn't have any other way to get the 7 miles home, I have been breaking the rules and waiting. Well, last week, after a 20 minute wait, I decided to put a stop to her perpetual lateness. (Other drivers have complained that every morning it is the same thing: wait, wait, wait.) I told her when she came out of her place of business and was boarding my vehicle that I would not wait that long on her any more. I tried to explain that we had our rules to follow and that she was making me late for my other clients. Wow! This woman flew into a rage! She grabbed her stuff and "trounced" off the bus, all the while screaming at me about unfair I was, how screwed up our system was, how I didn't understand how hard it was to manage alone, and on and on. She threw things, and in a word, threw a real "tizzy fit." Any moment I expected her to lay down on the ground and kick her feet! This woman is 50 years old!
I, then, in my infinite wisdom, ask her if she was done cussing and raving. She looked at me with such hatred that I was wondering if she had an uzi stashed in that king-size sachel she always carries. I said that I might as well take her home, she had wasted so much time that I was already very late for my next and final client. She got into the bus, clear in the back seat, where she would have a clear shot at the back of my head if she had the uzi, and the proceeded to bawl all the way home. One the way home, I picked up my last rider of the day who wondered if I had forgotten him. I apologized to him about being late. He rode along while I took BB the rest of the way home. Upon arriving at her house, she wouldn't let me help her with her stuff, and when I asked her for her bus fare she told me it was "back on the friggin' seat," and stormed off the bus. The gentleman rider with me said after she was out of earshot, "I don't think she was too happy with you for some reason!"
Now, childlike behavior is expected from a child, but from a woman of 50? Who needs this shit! I filed a formal complaint with the company, called my manager, and then went home. As of today, our 5 minute wait time policy was reinforced at a general drivers meeting. As of today, I will wait 5 minutes, and if BB isn't on my bus at 5:50pm, I am to pull away, and not worry about how she gets home. I could gloat, and say "I won," but did I win anything. Secretly, I am pleased that now she has to follow all the rules if she wants to ride, but I also wonder just how she will get home if I don't take her. After all, I do have a heart!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow! I'm almost speechless. While I understand your compassion for her, you also have to follow the rules of your company or you could risk losing your job. If she knows the rules and can't follow them then that's her fault. If she needs more time to get her things together before pickup then she should change her time to say maybe 5:55pm. Keep your chin up, you did the right thing!

Anonymous said...

You know how I feel on this subject. As someone who rides public transit, it isn't fair to the other ones already on the bus or the next one to be picked up. This person really needs to get her "act" together. I am just glad the the "powers that be" at work backed you up on this on.