måndag, april 06, 2009

Once more on Dublin Bus 123

It was on the 3rd of April, on the bus 123 that leaves the terminus in Marino at 11.18, that we once again gathered for yet another journey. We were all grown up so we knew what we were letting ourselves in for but there was an air of optimism on board all the same.

We were going at a brisk pace, picking up passengers in Ballybough and Summerhill. And then- the bus stopped in Parnell Street. The engine was turned off. Damn! Was this the LONG wait for the new driver? No, the driver explains, he has been instructed by management not to enter the city centre until the time table says so.

We the passsengers go into baffled mode. Why leave us waiting in Parnell Street? Why can the bus not go two more stops and let us get off in O'Connell Street (where most of us are going) and wait there for the correct time table departure. Rules, says the driver, orders from the management.

A mini riot breaks out. I feel steam coming out of my ears. Everyone has something to say and says it out loud. A pensioner starts shouting about being a union man, about having worked all his life - for THIS?! The driver takes a lot of flak. He tells us to complain at head office. We tell him to drive on but he wont. We wont get off and walk the two stops because it is just that bit too far.

Annoying, annoying beyond belief.