It was raining. No big surprise since it's november and it usually rains on a daily basis. At one stop I have a woman with a walker and another woman with a broken leg on crutches get on the bus. Naturally I wait until they're seated before I move the bus. As for everyone else, I advise them to hold on and usually will start driving while they're still standing. We really don't have the time to wait for everyone to take a seat before we start moving. If you're handicapped or elderly or request we wait, then we will.
At the next stop a man gets on the bus. I tell him to hold on before starting to pull away from the curb. Two seconds later I hear the squeak of his shoe (a fuckin' croc. Those should only be worn in the garden!!!) against a wet leaf. He ended up flying backwards and hitting his head so hard that I thought he had cracked his skull at the very least. I immediately stop the bus, help him up and ask if he's okay. Being more embarressed than anything, the man tells me that he's fine and it's his fault for wearing the wrong footware. I take his name and information just in case. As I get back into my seat to start driving again, the old woman with the walker pipes up "Why didn't you wait for him to sit down? You knew the bus was slippery?" And then another passenger chimed in with the same sort of sentiment....and another and another. I ignored them. It was an unfortunate situation but most people are aware that the bus will move so they hold on to something. I also warn them to hold on if I see they're just standing there when I'm about to take off.
About half an hour later, I'm driving down main st. I'm doing about 40kms approaching an intersection that has a green light for me. A car in the oncoming turn lane decides that it would be a good idea to make a left hand turn in front of a 10 ton bus going close to the speed limit on a wet, slippery fall day. I yell "HOLD ON" and hit the brakes so hard that the antilocks kick in. The back end is fishtailing across two lanes, I'm terrrified that I'm going to end up completely totatlling this car. I end up just missing this guy's rear bumper with less than an inch to spare. All of my passengers congratulate me on avoiding an accident.
It's funny being a professional driver. Being on the road all the time, I have developed this sixth sense as to when and where accidents will occur. So even though a car may be stationary, I can amake a reasonable guess as to what he's going to do and where I'll need to be to avoid the accident.
On my second to last run of the evening this extremely drunk man gets on the bus. He sits in the front seat and immediately urinates himself. Now to be honest this has happened more often than I'd like it to. If you can't control your bladder when you're drinking, wear an adult diaper to the bar!
The smell is so bad that most of the passengers have moved to the back of the bus while I have the fans on high speed and am driving with my head out the window. A few stops later a little old woman gets on and sits right next to the man who pissed himself. I notice her take out a lace hankerchief and cover her mouth and nose with it. At the next stop I tell her that I'll wait, if she wants to move seats. She says that she's okay and only has another couple of blocks to go. Once we finally reach the terminus people start flying off my bus like rats abandoning ship! Stinky gets off as well.
Immediately I call control and request for a supervisor to clean up the mess.
Control: Can you carry on?
Me: No! Someone urinated on the seat. I don't want another passenger sitting on it.
Control:Well is there a lot of fluid on the seat or just a bit?
Me: I don't know, I threw a newspaper over it.
Control: Alright, we'll send a supervisor.
Ten minutes later my phone rings.
Control: Uhhh. Are the seats cloth?
Me: It's a trolley, all of the trolley seats are cloth. So YES!
Control: Well a supervisor can't properly clean that up....
Me: So?????
Control: We're cancelling your run. You only have one left. Go not in service back to the garage..
Me: Thank you have a good night!
And I was off an hour early!! I did have to drive a stinky bus for close to an hour though but then again, I was off an hour early!!!
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