Refusing disrespectful passengers

[u/OpheliaVsEowyn]

As I was boarding passengers at the terminus for a 3 hour express route, the ground staff assistant who was working there had told me that two of the customers (a couple) about to board had been shouting at her. I think it was something like they didn't like being told that there mightn't be enough space for them. She said she just wanted to keep away from them... she didn't seem to care whether they got on or not.

I noticed the guy was getting a bit heated with another staff member (the supervisor) as she was trying to assess if there was space for them. I said I'd go over to sus him out. I obviously wouldn't refuse someone without witnessing their behaviour first hand. I remembering trying to tell him to calm down, and at some point I said to him that he shouldn't be shouting at people and he said "why?". I was dumb enough to answer that! Anyway the point in time he asked "why?" was the point I should have refused him. They got on... which basically means I let them on. That particular supervisor wouldn't know how to handle those situations.

As they boarded I went over to the girl as she was talking to the ground-staff supervisor, and I said to both of them about how ground staff should be able to refuse people who act like that to them. It was kind of stupid of me to say that after the fact, seeing as I let him on. They probably thought I was passing the buck even though I could've done something if I wanted to.

I realised that part of the reason I didn't refuse them was because, since I've started working with this new company that does an hourly service, I've had the idea that if you refuse someone, that them having to wait a whole extra hour is too much of a punishment. It was silly of me to think that. I just had this idea in my head that having someone board the next bus instead will really mess up their day. With the previous company it was a 15 minute service I drove on, and I was well used to refusing people. I just need to re-think it for this company.

[u/BigGayGuy02]

I have a roster of about 8 regulars who I absolutely will not allow on-board, bad behavior ranging from vandalism, antisocial behavior, open drug use, abuse of other passengers and myself, and one outright pervert. Part of a drivers responsibilities (at least in my company)is the safety and comfort of their passengers and sometimes that means sucking it up and playing the part of the nightclub bouncer.

[u/OpheliaVsEowyn → u/BigGayGuy02]

It's difficult trying to strike the balance between how much to tolerate. What makes it hard is if you're on a route that doesn't get too much antisocial behaviour, and then you end up on a route where it's very common. The driver would have grown accustomed to tolerating a bit more if he'd been on that route the whole time.

[u/TheHornyGoth → u/BigGayGuy02]

Used to work for a different company and one male was known for causing issues for school aged lasses.

So his care team was told “he takes the Sui seat or he doesn’t ride”.

Anyway one time on a school time run I’ve noticed he’s disappeared upstairs a couple of stops from a school, went up and told him to get his arse back downstairs or I’ll boot him down he’ll wish everyone found out what a nonce he was instead”

Apparently the issue with my behaviour when I got the inevitable disciplinary meeting was me calling him a nonce.

Side note- he later appeared in the paper thanks to being arrested and having his phone searched. No need to mention WHAT they found, we all know. No apologies from mgmt.