Wednesday:
I pick up a drunk old man who's carrying a shopping bag. He stumbles onto the bus and takes a seat close to the rear doors. As I continue driving, I see him pull a beer out of his bag and start drinking it. I immediately pull over.
"Sir, you cannot drink on the bus. I'm going to have to ask you to leave." I say.
"I'm fine. Keep driving woman." He replies.
"Nope. Get off now, or I'll call security and have them escort you off the coach and believe me, they won't be nearly as nice as I am." I say.
He then stands up, says "I'm done anyways", pours his mostly full beer on the aisle of the bus and urinates himself. After he gets off, I call dispatch and request for someone to come clean the bus. They respond by asking me if I can carry on. Ha! That's funny! I've got a bus with urine and beer running down the aisle, I'm not driving this thing until it's clean!
Thursday:
A man gets on the bus downtown and asks if I go to 45th Ave. I reply that I do and he sits down at the back. As the bus eventually empties out, he gradually moves closer and closer to the front. Eventually he's the only one left on the bus and he's sitting in the seat closest to me. A few blocks from his destination, he gets up, stands behind me and starts talking to me.
As I pull into his stop, he stumbles and falls into me. I saw it coming so I put my arm out to block myself. I feel his arm snake past my outstretched arm and land on my chest. He immediately starts grabbing and pinching until he's gotten a handful of my boob. He then stands up and exits the bus as though nothing had happened. The whole entire incident with him not even looking in my direction. It was almost as though he thought that if he didn't look at me, I wouldn't notice what was happening.
Many people asked me after the fact why I didn't do anything to stop him or do anything after the fact. The reason is, I didn't expect this to happen at all. I was in shock that it was happening to me. I couldn't react even if I wanted to. I just shut the doors and drove back to the yard. Twenty minutes later I called the assault in but by that time it was too late to do anything.
After the assault, I was left with a large bruise on my chest. Looking back, I realised that this man was not intoxicated as he had led me to believe. It was just a ruse that he used in order to grab me.
Friday:
It's about eight pm and I'm driving through the rich part of town. I stop to let about six teenagers on the bus. A few stops later, I get pulled over by the cops. There's one car blocking the front of the bus, one behind me and one blocking on coming traffic. I open the doors and let a female officer on the bus. "Lock the doors right now" She commands me. I comply.
"EVERYONE, HANDS IN THE AIR. SHOW ME YOUR HANDS" She yells. I let another cop on the rear doors and together they start questioning the teenagers. Meanwhile, a supervisor shows up and asks me what's going on. "I have no idea. The police just boarded my bus and started screaming orders at the passengers." I say. I get up out of the drivers seat to get off the bus when one of the cops yells at me, "Stay right where you are" I instantly slink back into my seat wondering what the hell is going on.
About ten minutes later the female officer comes to the front and fills me on what's happening. Some kids had robbed a jewelery store and in the process sprayed a cop in the face with hairspray. The officer asked me a few questions. Where had I picked them up? What time? Etc.... Turns out the teens on my bus weren't involved and I was allowed to continue driving. I overheard the kids after the cops left the bus talking about the robbery and how they knew who did it. I could have called the police after hearing that but I knew it would be useless. These teens would never admit who had done the robbery and they had already been thoroughly questioned.
It's unfortunate being put in those circumstances. I had information but I knew it couldn't be used. Also these teens were part of a gang and I didn't really want to be the one who ratted them out to the cops.
And that is just a typical week for me.
After the assault, I was left with a large bruise on my chest. Looking back, I realised that this man was not intoxicated as he had led me to believe. It was just a ruse that he used in order to grab me.
Friday:
It's about eight pm and I'm driving through the rich part of town. I stop to let about six teenagers on the bus. A few stops later, I get pulled over by the cops. There's one car blocking the front of the bus, one behind me and one blocking on coming traffic. I open the doors and let a female officer on the bus. "Lock the doors right now" She commands me. I comply.
"EVERYONE, HANDS IN THE AIR. SHOW ME YOUR HANDS" She yells. I let another cop on the rear doors and together they start questioning the teenagers. Meanwhile, a supervisor shows up and asks me what's going on. "I have no idea. The police just boarded my bus and started screaming orders at the passengers." I say. I get up out of the drivers seat to get off the bus when one of the cops yells at me, "Stay right where you are" I instantly slink back into my seat wondering what the hell is going on.
About ten minutes later the female officer comes to the front and fills me on what's happening. Some kids had robbed a jewelery store and in the process sprayed a cop in the face with hairspray. The officer asked me a few questions. Where had I picked them up? What time? Etc.... Turns out the teens on my bus weren't involved and I was allowed to continue driving. I overheard the kids after the cops left the bus talking about the robbery and how they knew who did it. I could have called the police after hearing that but I knew it would be useless. These teens would never admit who had done the robbery and they had already been thoroughly questioned.
It's unfortunate being put in those circumstances. I had information but I knew it couldn't be used. Also these teens were part of a gang and I didn't really want to be the one who ratted them out to the cops.
And that is just a typical week for me.
