Never piss off a bus driver

[oggboy]

Re: Never piss off a bus driver

That`s Thru Craig,

I Do Think This Bus Driver Did The Right Thing Telling The Rider

To Turn Off Their Cell.

When I Was Living On Oahu And Taking The Bus Between Jobs,

Neva Have These Nextel Ptt. Lucky Thing Foa Us Riders.

I Can Just Picture Now Day`s What Da Bus Drivers Gotta Deal With

Now!!!! So Much For The Green Busses And Mtl... Oggboy

[EastCoastTropics]

Re: Never piss off a bus driver

I'm glad the bus driver told the passenger to shut their freaking nextel off! If I'm bothered by nimrods using it in line in a store, I'd definately be bothered by having to listen to it on a bus!

[Miulang]

Re: Never piss off a bus driver

Now with all the paranoia about terrorists attacking the US public transportation system, it's a wonder noone using those PTTs has been gunned down or beaten up by irate passengers. Which age group uses the PTT the most? Not people over 30. Kids just have no clue about etiquette anymore. Send 'em all to charm school. These users are probably also the ones who think they can talk on their cellphone (using their headsets, of course), eat a Big Mac and drive at the same time. Then they cut somebody off because they're not paying attention and end up being in a road rage incident.

Miulang

[cezanne]

Re: Never piss off a bus driver

I wanted to show him that he can still PTT people w/out the speaker, but I guess he got embarrassed and got off the bus.

I would have gave the bus-driver a standing ovation (of course if I was standing anyway). The people with the handless setups are just as bad... for some reason they think they have to yell when they talk.

[FreaknHaole]

Re: Never piss off a bus driver

TheBus always rates high in customer satisfaction, and one reason is that the drivers generally attempt to make the ride a pleasant experience -- which includes calling out disruptive passengers.
Combine a PTT with ADD and a lack of social graces and you have an annoying rider who has no clue he's annoying. An incipient sociopath. Until the captain of the ship -- er, the bus driver -- er, his mama -- drags him back to reality by telling him to shut the hell up.

For some reason, I'm reminded of the Kailua-to-town bus driver who used to sell little bags of potato chips and snacks to riders. No significant mark-up -- just a person who understood the importance of noshing.

Sodden thought -- why not rig TheBus with WiFi so riders could use their laptops?

[cezanne]

Re: Never piss off a bus driver

Combine a PTT with ADD and a lack of social graces and you have an annoying rider who has no clue he's annoying. An incipient sociopath.

LOL! Classic...

Bus drivers have to put up with a lot of crap. So yeah so long they got their signal on or got there hand out the window saying they need to come into my lane... sure, be my guest.

[SouthKona]

Re: Never piss off a bus driver

If these drivers lose their CDL for any reason, they can pretty much hang up their driving career and for some that's all they have as you don't need a college degree to get one. It is for that reason is why most heavy equipment drivers are typically curteous on the roads...typically that is.

I assume you mean by "heavy equipment drivers" the operators of the equipment (as opposed to meaning the drivers of the flatbed trucks that haul the heavy equipment on the roadway from job site to job site). In any case, I agree that heavy equipment drivers (AKA "operators") are typically courteous drivers. Perhaps because they have extreme respect for the damage that machinery can inflict upon a human body, a "small mistake" while operating a piece of equipment can easily mean death to the operator or a coworker. Such awareness would overlap to an awareness of the results of a car vs the human body.
That said, you do not need a driver's license to be a heavy equipment operator. You need to be qualified to run the quipment, and union jobs require a medical clearance, but not a driver's license. (Of course, the drivers of flatbed trucks need a CDL).
Go Operators!!

[melorama]

Re: Never piss off a bus driver

For some reason, I'm reminded of the Kailua-to-town bus driver who used to sell little bags of potato chips and snacks to riders. No significant mark-up -- just a person who understood the importance of noshing.

I love drivers like this! Hands down, THE coolest drivers who did things like this were the ones on the Route 70 (Maunawili-Kailua-Lanikai) route. They'd let you come on the bus with your Big Gulp, let you eat food (only if you took your garbage off with you, of course) and would give you candy, crack seed, etc. They'd also drop you off right in front of your house, instead of making you get off at the "official" stop a block or so away.

I haven't rode that route in over 8 years now, but for the almost 20 years that I did, nearly all the drivers on that route were really cool like that.

Then there are the complete butthead drivers who insist on doing EVERYTHING "by the book" (and more). I was once refused entrance onto a bus because I walked on taking a swig of my bottled water! The driver said to me "no drinks on the bus." I could have just thrown the bottle out, but I refused to get back on the bus, just out of principle. What a jerk.

One time, I also saw a driver refuse to let a nice Japanese couple on the bus, because "no surfboards allowed"...the couple's "surfboard" was one of those 3 dollar, styrofoam paddle-boards that you get from the ABC store or whatever.

Sodden thought -- why not rig TheBus with WiFi so riders could use their laptops?

A nice idea...but have you ever tried to actually *use* a laptop on a moving bus? Space issues aside, the bus shakes so violently, even at slow speeds, that it's impossible to keep your eyes on the screen without going completely insane (or at least a massive headache).

[newroots]

Re: Never piss off a bus driver

lol... freaknhaole thats a good one. but sometimez its da other way round. my uncles a bus driver , dat guys the most annoying guy ever.

[newroots]

Re: Never piss off a bus driver

theres some bus drivers who smoked too much ice and their driving super fast haha. stupid heads. and theres some who are not only bus drivers , but are dj's at the same time. they try to impress you with their taste of music that no one listens to in the bus.

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Never piss off a bus driver

[QUOTE=SouthKona

I assume you mean by "heavy equipment drivers" the operators of the equipment (as opposed to meaning the drivers of the flatbed trucks that haul the heavy equipment on the roadway from job site to job site). In any case, I agree that heavy equipment drivers (AKA "operators") are typically courteous drivers. Perhaps because they have extreme respect for the damage that machinery can inflict upon a human body, a "small mistake" while operating a piece of equipment can easily mean death to the operator or a coworker. Such awareness would overlap to an awareness of the results of a car vs the human body.
That said, you do not need a driver's license to be a heavy equipment operator. You need to be qualified to run the quipment, and union jobs require a medical clearance, but not a driver's license. (Of course, the drivers of flatbed trucks need a CDL).
Go Operators!! [/QUOTE]

I stand corrected I meant vehicles that have GVW ratings of 10,000 or greater requiring CDL.

I've worked with both Heavy Equipment Operators and CDL drivers where I used to work (all of them card carrying union members) and from talking to the fleet vehicle supervisor (also a union man), these drivers could care less about the delicate nature of their rigs.

The drivers I know tell me it is the paranoia of getting caught doing something stupid while driving these big vehicles. If you get any moving or equipment violation while driving these kinds of vehicles, you can get your CDL suspended or taken away permanently.

One thing you don't do to a big rig is to cut one off then slow down quickly. Big vehicles cannot slow down as fast. They will try their best not to rear end you, however it's safer to ram the rear of the car rather than slam on their air brakes (Jacobs if trailing) and have their 10-ton load shift forward right into the crew cabin or their trailer jack-knife into oncoming lanes of traffic.

But people do that and a normal driver would get pissed off enough to do something very offensive. But a CDL driver will keep back because any kind of aggression reported back to his company or the police could jeapordize his job or his license.

[adrian]

Re: Never piss off a bus driver

Another story from my bus ride:

As we were going down Farrington in Waipahu on the gentle slopping hill between a former radio station and the Paiwa intersection, someone braked early when it was still green, and since the driver was going a bit fast, he managed to honk his horn and swerve to avoid hitting the civic that was almost in a state of parkingness.

No one got hurt, but the driver was clearly pissed and that was the first time that I saw a bus driver give the finger to someone.

[Glen Miyashiro]

Re: Never piss off a bus driver

As we were going down Farrington in Waipahu on the gentle slopping hill between a former radio station and the Paiwa intersection, someone braked early when it was still green, and since the driver was going a bit fast, he managed to honk his horn and swerve to avoid hitting the civic that was almost in a state of parkingness.

Boy, I hate it when those hills start slopping. It can get messy real fast.

[pzarquon]

Re: Never piss off a bus driver

I'm embarrassed to say I had an encounter with a bus... while riding my bike.

I was coming down Halawa Heights Drive, a bit faster than I should have been going (of course), and saw several blocks ahead a bus crossing my path. Basically, the physics calculators in my head must've missed a decimal point, and I assumed that the bus would clear the intersection long before I got there.

At the last minute I realized I wasn't going to make it, slammed on my brakes, and ended up whomping into the side of the bus, sideways. I was still standing and wobbled over to the curb to gather my wits.

The bus driver actually stopped and got out and came over to ask if I was all right. I was humiliated but fine. He walked away shaking his head like he'd just met the dumbest crackhead in town.

I've also bounced off a few back bumpers of buses when getting a little too into "drafting" them down a street...

[lurkah]

Re: Never piss off a bus driver

He walked away shaking his head like he'd just met the dumbest crackhead in town.

Yes, but how did the bus fare?