Lowri Griffiths on why the person driving your bus might be having a considerably worse week than you are

I saw the story about London bus drivers “breaking down” from tiredness after working thirteen days in a row and I have to be honest, it’s completely recalibrated how I feel every time the 243 is four minutes late and I’m standing there tutting like I’m the one who’s had a genuinely brutal fortnight.

Why This Story Actually Hit Differently As Someone Who Relies On Buses Constantly

Because I am, as regular readers know, far too broke to consider taxis as anything but a wild fantasy, meaning buses are basically my entire personality’s transport infrastructure, and it turns out the people driving them have been doing thirteen consecutive days without a proper break while I’ve been standing there personally offended by a four-minute delay.

What This Has Actually Made Me Reconsider About My Own Commuting Behaviour

Genuinely everything. The sighing. The pointed looking at my phone. The internal monologue about how MY time is precious, delivered while completely ignoring that the person operating the actual vehicle has had considerably less rest than I have this week, possibly this entire fortnight.

How I’m Actually Trying To Adjust My Own Approach Going Forward

Saying thank you when I get off, mostly, which sounds embarrassingly small but genuinely costs nothing and takes about one second, unlike apparently everything else in this city right now.

Whether I Think This Story Should Change How Other Broke Londoners Approach Their Own Daily Bus Rage

Genuinely yes. We’re all knackered, all skint, all running for the same delayed bus, but at least most of us get to go home after our shift rather than starting day fourteen of the same one.

What This Whole Story Reveals About Who Actually Bears The Weight Of Keeping This City Moving On A Genuinely Broke Budget

Mostly that the people keeping London’s cheapest transport option running are doing so at a genuinely exhausting personal cost, and the least the rest of us skint commuters can do is stop treating them like the enemy every time we’re running two minutes late for something. More broke London commuting content lives here on bohiney.com.

SOURCE: https://bohiney.com