On the Buses
A few weeks ago on Facebook, I joined a group called "I Hate London Bus Drivers". Perhaps you think this is rather uncharitable of me. London bus drivers, after all, don't particularly have easy jobs - they drive through some areas where even the police seem reluctant to set foot, have to put up with the hectic London traffic, and also aren't paid a fortune. All these points are fair and true.

What I despise about London bus drivers, however - and in fact, let me extend this criticism to bus drivers generally - is the fact that for all their complaints, they've never been known for really making life easy for themselves. Over the past few years, I've witnessed:

1/ A bus driver being extremely racist to a black passenger, then ranting at his passengers when they defended the man ("Yeah, yeah, you lot, you don't know what I have to put up with, likes of him...")

2/ A bus driver slamming his doors shut on an elderly man with a walking stick who was struggling to get on board ("You're lucky I didn't hurt you then, you're supposed to notice when I'm shutting the bloody doors!")

3/ A bus driver nearly plouging into other bikes, cars and pedestrians. Actually, I've lost count of the amount of times I've seen this through dangerous driving.

4/ A bus driver threatening to throw "everyone" off his bus because "I'm sick of the lot of you". (It didn't work, and he eventually backed down).

There are lots of other trivial instances I've built a mental store of over the years. Yes, it's a tough job, but if you've got a repugnant, power hungry personality, a chip on your shoulder the size of Canada and you're trying to appease the general public, it's seldom a happy combination. I have friends who work with drug addicts and violent criminals, and all manage to get through a difficult and underpaid day without creating controversy.

I mention all the above because one of the less happy bus driving members of our group has been suspended by TFL for racism for the comments he left there, and indeed if I go over to the special "Why We Bus Drivers Hate The Public" Group he set up, I can see some lovely conversation is still rattling on:

"Let me tell you about the africans here. They wait til the last second to hail you, they take 30 seconds to get on the bus, they smell, they never have their money or smart card ready they never show their concession entitlement, they never purchase the correct ticket, they ring the bell and don't get up to get off the bus until you've been sitting still so long that you're about to drive off, they once again sit there fumbling around for their smart card and finally get off."

Lovely stuff. I'm really glad this group has made the headlines, it may only have a few members, but it's exposed an awful lot of what I'd hoped it would expose without even anyone really arguing that much with the drivers. Give these people enough rope, and they'll hang themselves.

Bring back the conductors, that's what I say. Everyone liked them.