Skip to main content

Stalled in Traffic, A Bus Oddity

So, you’re drivin' yir bus, humming away to classic tunes in my head, especially in in times of dread. Here's one from the other day when i was stuck in heavy traffic.

Bus Oddity

Traffic Control to Driver John

Traffic Control to Driver John

Take your caffeine pills and put your shirt & tie on

Traffic Control to Driver John (ten, nine, eight, seven, six)

Commencing countdown, engine on (five, four, three, two)

Check ignition and may God's love be with you (one, drive off)

♫♪

This is Traffic Control to Driver John

You have not made the grade

And your supervisor wants to know the colour of shoes you wear

Now it's time to leave the bus cab if you dare

This is Driver John to Traffic Control

I'm stepping through the door

And I'm moving in no particular way

And the cars look very different today

For here

Am I sitting in a tin can

Road traffic has unfurled

I'll do my best to get through

But there's not much I can do

♫♪

Though I'm past one hundred thousand miles

I'm feeling very still

And I think my bus buddy knows which way to go

Tell my wife I love her very much she knows

Traffic Control to Driver John

Your circuit's dead, there's something wrong

Can you hear me, Driver John?

Can you hear me, Driver John?

Can you hear me, Driver John? Can you-

Here am I rattling 'round my tin can

Hoping to be home soon

More overtime is due

And there's nothing I can do

♫♪


Lyrics borrowed from David Bowie

___ The Bus Driver

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Hidden Risk Behind That Extra Shift You’re Asked to Take

Once you’ve clocked 9 hours in uniform, even the vending machine starts judging you. It’s not just driving time that drags, it’s everything in between. Here’s why I stick to 39 hours and refuse overtime, no matter the pressure. Introduction I’m three months into a 12-month rethink of my overtime habits. After a steady drip of minor incidents, not enough to make headlines, but enough to make me think twice, I’ve realised piling on extra hours isn’t just about padding the pay packet. It’s about keeping my focus sharp, my sanity intact, and most importantly, everyone on the road safe. I know the desk staff might be throwing me the occasional side-eye, wondering why I’m not jumping at every chance to work overtime. If only money grew on trees, I’d be first in line. But unfortunately, it doesn’t. What does grow (or at least what I’m fiercely guarding) is my peace of mind, and a scrap of sanity after years of long shifts and minimal downtime. I’m at that point in life where I’d rather enjoy ...

What Drivers Think When a Bus Crashes Into a River

You Don’t Need to Be in the Cab to Feel It: A crash like that echoes through every depot. We weren’t there. But we know the weight of the wheel. I’m not a double deck driver. I wasn’t there. And I won’t claim to know what happened near Eastleigh yesterday, not with investigations still ongoing. But like a lot of us in the seat, I felt that cold drop in my gut. There’s something about seeing one of ours, uniformed, behind the wheel, doing the job, caught in a headline that starts with “crash” and ends with “students injured.” You feel it. Not because you know the full story (you don’t), but because you know the pressure, the road, the weight of that responsibility. Most of us go our whole careers without facing anything like that. We hope to keep it that way. But that doesn’t stop your mind from going there. Doesn't stop you wondering, What would I do? Would I have seen it coming? Could I have changed anything? The truth is, buses are heavy things. We drive them through tight spaces...

The Day the Bus Carried a Quiet Medal

A mysterious rider boards with a quiet grin and a coin in their pocket. Something’s being celebrated, but not out loud. They boarded like they’d just been knighted at the kitchen sink, fresh-faced, wide-eyed, carrying the kind of quiet victory that doesn’t need an audience but accepts one all the same. Not loud, not showy, just… unmistakably someone who woke up today already proud of themselves. There’s a kind of walk folk do when they’ve already won the day before breakfast. It’s not quite a strut, too self-aware for that, but there’s a bounce to it. Like the pavement’s giving them a round of applause. That’s what boarded this morning. Mid-morning, not quite rush, not quite calm. Buzzing with something invisible but important. They tapped on, grinning at nobody in particular, and made the kind of eye contact that tells you they’ve got good news and absolutely no plans to keep it to themselves. I gave them the usual nod, half polite, half do we know each other? …and they leaned in slig...

Archive

Show more