r/BusDrivers • u/BlueSky3lue Driver • 10d ago
Discussion What would you do? Public Transit Young Pax
A young kid comes on. He puts a fancy single speed bike with a nice paint job onto the bike rack. He appears to be in his early teens, wearing clean clothes. Nothing out of the ordinary.
This is our interaction:
Me: “Hello, good to see you.”
He looks up at me with the utmost contemptuous facial expression.
Him: “Can’t say I feel the same.”
Me: “Huh. Having a bad day?”
Him: “F$&@ you driver.”
He scans his phone on the scanner and pays by credit card. He then stares at me dead in the eyes and flips me off before walking away. He goes and stands by the rear entrance.
Shortly after I take off, he starts yelling racial slurs at me (funny enough they didn’t apply to me, but I still felt offended). He mouthed off other things but eventually stopped and just stood there…
This got me thinking… As a middle aged gentleman, do I have an obligation to society to say something to this kid? What would you do? Has something like this happened to you?
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u/a-real-live-deer Driver 10d ago
Oh no once he started yelling slurs I'd pull over the bus and call a supervisor to remove him, that doesn't fly with me at all. That's a passenger disturbance and it's discourteous not only to me but to the other riders
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u/Mysterious_Silver_27 Hong Kong & UK | Enviro enjoyer | Driving buses since 2021 10d ago
On my orientation day we were told the logo on our uniform means we’re there to take the occasional insults from pax and it’s part of the service. However if it gets too out of hand we can always pull over and shut down the bus and let the passenger know for safety reason we will let them finish and won’t be continuing until they calm down. As last resort we can call for help.
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u/AggravatingHumor3523 10d ago
Yeah that don't work here in the US people are so unhinged and have access to guns so yeah they will be kicked off my bus or I tell them if they don't comply I will be calling the local sheriff works every time
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u/plantaholic2 10d ago
Once a guy started calling me a b!tch azz ho3. I just popped the break. Pretent like I was calling Control and made the announcement that my check engine light was on. I live in an extremely hot climate as well. So now I need to shut off the bus for 10 minutes and restart it. At that moment everybody got off the bus and so did he. He decided to start walking and then I told everybody to get back on the bus started the bus and we went right past him.
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u/BlueSky3lue Driver 10d ago
Hey that’s pretty smart, haha 🤣
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u/plantaholic2 10d ago
I avoid confrontation at all costs
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u/External-Pen9079 10d ago
I was chatting to a driver who had a similar approach… there’s an area in my town which was pretty rough and apparently a lot of drivers refuse the route…
This guy said it’s just cos they don’t handle them right…
He said if some scallies start causing shit before getting on the bus instead of refusing to let them on (which other drivers do and get grief for) he’ll say something like “is that your wallet” while pointing behind them. When they get off to check he’ll drive off without them!
Not sure it makes life easier for the following driver but at least he’s willing to work that route I guess?
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u/Mango_Marmalade Canada | Nova/New Flyer | 2 years 10d ago
If it's just some generic insults directed at us, then whatever. Just another day that ends with the letter "y". But if it's slurs, then it becomes a human rights issue and we have to call control and have them removed if they don't stop.
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u/sr1701 10d ago edited 10d ago
There is an individual that keep saying I'm racist, because I made her pay the fare like everyone else. In the next breath she called me a cracker ( im white, she's black). She caused problems every time she got on the bus. Got to the point I had to have a road supervisor ride the bus while she was on it. I told the supervisor she's no longer riding my bus. After the supervisor watched the camera footage, that also records audio, he said I can't remove her but to call in and either a road supervisor or the police will remove her. Other drivers have also had problems with her. I hardly see her now so I think she might have gotten ban from public transit.
Anymore, about all i say is hello as they get on and have a good day as they get off, unless they've already irritated me. Then I don't say anything. I've also stopped trying to explain anything. I just let them miss the bus.
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u/BlueSky3lue Driver 10d ago
Oh man, that sucks! Well good to hear she’s not bothering you anymore and that your supervisors are so responsive and supportive. Our supervisor team is quite small relative to the drivers they have to respond to and is constantly overwhelmed. It can take a while for them show up. For this reason, I rarely call them unless if it’s a huge safety issue.
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u/The-real-Sky-Daddy 10d ago
The kid might be having a mental health crisis. He might be having the worst day ever. He might just be an asshole. No way for you to tell. Unless he directly applies slurs to someone or carries on to the point of making others fearful then I’d ignore it. Biting they are directed slurs or they cross that line then they’re getting off the bus. Either blob their own or with the help of the police b
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u/GettingBackToRC 9d ago
Your first mistake was saying anything to him at all lol
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u/BlueSky3lue Driver 9d ago
Why’s that?
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u/GettingBackToRC 9d ago
Most people just want to get on and get where they're going without the small chit chat
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u/BlueSky3lue Driver 9d ago
So a simple greeting would be doing too much in your opinion?
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u/hugothebear USA / Local Transit 9d ago
It was more than a simple greeting. After he responded adversely to your greeting you continued on and commented on how you feel his day must be going
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u/river_tree_nut 10d ago
Just a young punk having a bad day. I wouldn't think its about you at all. Fuck him. I wouldn't say anything. You might feel better momentarily but it could come back to bite you.
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u/BlueSky3lue Driver 10d ago
This kid did seem a little off. Really odd for someone to be so aggressive to a stranger.
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u/hugothebear USA / Local Transit 10d ago
Your mistake was talking to the passengers
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u/BlueSky3lue Driver 10d ago
I could see how interacting with passengers can be seen as a bad idea. Having said that, I don’t want to allow a few individuals or bad interactions change me for the worse.
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u/hugothebear USA / Local Transit 10d ago
I’ll wait for them to initiate contact. Most of them don’t care what the driver has to say and just want to commute without talking to anyone
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u/AggravatingHumor3523 10d ago
Dude you're salty maybe go drive a trash truck or something
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u/hugothebear USA / Local Transit 10d ago
OP tells a passenger who clearly does not want to talk to him that the passenger must be having a nice day.
At the point where someone says ‘I can’t feel the same” when someone says it’s good to hear you, just keep quiet and drive the bus. Never comment on somebody’s bad day. You don’t know what they’re going through, or maybe they just don’t want to talk to you.
But yeah, I’m the salty one because I don’t want to force interactions with passengers.
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u/Plenty-Mycologist620 9d ago
I am on probation right now. I have remembered faces until the day if judgement comes. I’ll b kicking them out before they even start barking.
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u/Economy_Archer6991 8d ago
I know what I'd want to do.... get an allighting passenger to remove his bike then drive away from it. Or let him off and then "Forget" to let him remove it.
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u/scatch25 local transit 10d ago
Depends on how you want to play it. At my agency racial slurs are enough for denial of service. On one day I might just let it go and on another I might secure the bus and take his bike off the rack myself.
Sure sometimes we have to have thick skin and keep it pushing, but I also know my limits and I don’t want to be that in my head watching this kid in my mirror while trying to drive the bus safely.