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This morning, while on my way to work, the bus was sitting at King and Dufferin for a bit, and I considered getting off the bus and heading over to the Hasty Market to see if they had the Premier Nutrition Protein bars I love. The light was taking a bit to change, so I opted to go for it.

Attempting to get off at the rear doors, I found them to be locked, so I walked towards the front of the bus. It was at this time that some dude decided to pick up all his hockey gear, and shuffle forward, so I had to skirt around him, and got to the driver before the light changed. I had my headphones on, and didn’t hear what he said initially, so I took them off and asked if I could get off the bus.

He looked up at me, and said “Waited long enough!”, and opened the doors. As I started off the bus, I then replied “I usually do with the TTC.”, which may or may not have been fair to say to him, but he was being an asshole, and I have issues with the TTC overall. For example, before I got onto his bus.

Standing at the Dufferin station bus stop, it is a common thing to see two or more buses arrive at the same time. I don’t know if it is due to traffic congestion as they claim, or if the bus drivers are just lazy and unorganised as some others claim, but it is somewhat irritating, as it usually leads to longer wait times. This morning, two buses showed up, but the driver of the first bus decided to stop in front of the station doors rather than down at the indicated bus stop where we were all waiting. The second bus stopped behind the first bus. So, all of us were standing at the designated spot, yet watched as people at the end of the line suddenly became the people at the front of the line. Bullshit. I then decided to walk down in front of the first bus so it couldn’t go anywhere, and along the side towards Dufferin St. so the second bus couldn’t go anywhere either, while at the same time avoiding the HUGE crowd gathering in an attempt to get on the first bus. Seems that others took my cue and did the same, as both buses couldn’t leave for a bit. In this instance, good.

I can understand that being a bus driver is probably not the best career in the world, but it is a job, with the TTC being one of the better paying transit organisations, as far as I’ve been hearing. The citizens of Toronto put up with a lot of their shit when they decide to go on strike, which has happened a number of times in recent years, so it leads me to wonder where their attitude is coming from. If you don’t like driving a bus for a living (because, let’s face it, who as a kid dreams of being a bus driver), then get a different job. Sure, there will be the odd jackass who will blame a bus driver for their travel woes, but I don’t blame the driver specifically, I blame the management of the TTC who are directing them to suddenly go out of service, or haven’t figured out yet how to properly manage a transit system as large as the one we need in Toronto. Still, just because a TTC employee has to deal with the odd jackass doesn’t mean that they have the right to snap at every other transit rider.

I don’t need attitude from a bus driver just for wanting to get off the bus while the light is still in our favour. I wasn’t holding anyone up, most certainly not like how the TTC holds up people each and every day.

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