#latebus

“A bus isn’t human” Thomas retorted, his voice was raised above normal and he spoke in a snappy fashion. He breathed heavily through his nostrils, his cheeks were going a little red from the excess use of muscles and blood. He felt warm and irritable and nobody seemed to fully grasps why this was so important to him, it was though he was speaking in an alien language or speaking backwards. When ever he got into moods like this, his father would do his best to understand what Thomas was feeling and ask him questions like ‘how does this make you feel’ but Thomas didn’t know, he couldn’t fully explain and would often end up kicking his father in the shin. Thomas never meant to hurt anyone and he was always deeply upset when he did, it was why his dad had taken to wearing shin pads.

Thomas was not in a happy mood. You could tell he wasn’t in a happy mood because he was frowning and pacing backwards and forwards in his room muttering something about bus timetables. He was current;y in his bedroom as his father had sent him upstairs to cool off before dinner but the cooling off wasn’t happening.

The bedroom door open and Thomas sat down on the bed, well, he more flopped down on it so his feet were hanging off the edge and his has were clenched tightly by his sides. He tilted his head a little to the right to see who was in his room.

It’s not just that the 73 is late. A lot of buses are late. Sometimes it’s just traffic- I can understand that. Leaving early though? I need to get to my job! I need a reliable mode of transport! (Saying that, I can certainly rely on the 73 to piss me off).  The person at the stop said the 73 left five minutes before it was meant to!

 I wrote First Group a letter, feeling like a hero on watchdog or something, which said that I was annoyed that my bus had left quite a few minutes early from my stop.  I got a shit reply which was something along the lines of:

‘Dear Mr *******,

I do apologise that the bus journey you have discussed, was late on the day stated in your email.  I will ensure that a thorough investigation is put in place to find out the reason for this incident...bla bla bla bla more vague general bullshit...’

I replied:

‘Dear First Group,

Thank you for your callous disregard for your customers. It’s clear that you put customer service at the forefront of your company’s values with your considerate and heartfelt response.  The bus on the day stated was actually early but I look forward to hearing about your findings and the outcome of this thorough investigation.  

sincerely,

Miss ******* 

Needless to say I didn't get a copy of their “thorough investigation”. 

I know why it left early. I’ve seen it happen.  Because the driver stops at Parkway station and then miraculously has time to read the Metro’s ‘Guilty Pleasures’. So, when I missed my bus that day, I waited for the next one which in true fashion, was over half an hour late and I got in trouble at work.  All because he wanted to know who wore the best dress at the fucking Brit Awards.