Our bus 123

We, the travelling public, who use Dublin Bus 123 aim to turn up at the bus stop washed, brushed, sweet smelling and reasonably sober.
Some of us on this route do not come within an ass's roar of this our mutual goal. Sadly, urinary incontinence seems to be very common on our bus. A slow and persistant dribble. I cannot blame Dublin Bus for this. I blame the health service. Charles Haughey (was it?) gave the over 65s free bus passes. Could somebody PLEASE give them an adequate health service as well to see to this urgent problem.
Add to this whiff the smell of the young, seriously unwashed man. And the smell of the old scary man who is both drunk and unwashed and talking to himself (in a threatening way) and you get quite an "athmosphere" on the bus.
So our route 123 seems to pick up some of the most wretched bus users of this city. Is THAT why we don't deserve a better service?

Election posters

I wish people would not wreck election posters. Keep doing it and it will be the end of democracy and then there will only be posters of a dictator. And if you scribble on dictator posters you will have your hands chopped off and you will be hanged. I am only saying - show a LITTLE respect for the brave people who put themselves forward!
I respect the candidate (for the government party) with the VERY rosy cheeks. Country people the world over admire a young woman with rosy cheeks. It means:
1. She is healthy - no TB or tape worms there.
2. She is flushed from running around the farm - no lazy cow she.
3. She blushes easily - she is no brazen hussy.
That is what country people think. But what do urban sophisticates think? A country girl is used to one bus a day to the nearest market town. Does she understand the notion of a city bus running every seven minutes? No, I don't think so. Don't vote for her, vote for somebody pale and interesting who understands city traffic.

My bus 123

The election posters are up and hanging. I admire people who have the guts to stand for public office. And I would like to think they will make the buses run on time - in a democratic way of course- once they are the elected representatives of the people.
Some I admire a little less. Or not at all as in the case of a certain candidate for the government party. He holds his blue eyes wide open in mock innocence as if he was saying. "No Ma, I would never do anything like that". His mouth is open showing most of his teeth but he is not smiling. He is in trouble and if he smiles his Ma will give him a slap. Maybe he can fool his Ma but can he fool the people?
I just know he wont make my bus run.

Further more on Dublin Bus 123

So why does a person wait 45 minutes in Dame Street for a 123 - a bus that is supposed to run every 7 minutes?
Well, the first 7 minutes is just normal waiting. After 14 minutes your chances of getting a 123 have doubled, after 21 minutes your chances have tripled and so on. After 28 minutes you have invested so much in the wait that you feel you MUST stay. After 42 minutes you realize that you are an idiot and wave a taxi.
You have given Dublin Bus three quarters of an hour of your wretched life, all for nothing. (The taxi home costs you €10.)
An awful service and not enough of it (ha ha!). Somebody out there thinks we don't deserve any better...

More about the 123

So why don't I walk then if Dublin Bus 123 is so slow and unreliable?

Because sometimes this happens: I go to the bus stop and wait two minutes and the 123 comes and brings me in to town in eight minutes. Nothing crazy happens on the bus.
Distance travelled: 2 km Time taken (incl. waiting): 10 minutes

This happens VERY seldom, just often enough to make me think it could happen again. It is like the lottery really. You partake because you totally overestimate the chances of a successful outcome.

Dublin Bus 123

The bus 123 is the bus for the wretched and the huddled. It is scheduled to run every 7 minutes. In real life that means about twice every hour.
This is what happened the other day. I waited 20 minutes in O'Connell Street. The 123 arrived (glory be!), I boarded the bus and got a seat (all this AND a seat!). The bus moved 500 metres and stopped. We were told to get out and take the bus behind us. We shuffle, shuffle, shuffle with our bags and buggies onto the other bus.
The middle aged couple in front of me are enjoying a quiet drink out of a paper bag. Suddenly the woman leans forward and gets sick. It comes out clear as a stream. Absolut vodka, no breakfast.
She takes off her scarf and tries to wipe it up. But it is too much. When the stream reaches the driver he stops and radios for a replacement bus. We sit and wait. The couple get off. The woman, (or I should say the lady - because given the unfortunate circumstances she has behaved impeccably) apologizes to us and the driver.
Distance travelled:2 km Time taken (incl. waiting) :48 minutes