I just witnessed one of the most interesting events I have ever seen on a London Bus.
This was a ride on a double decker bus on a Saturday afternoon. On this particular trip there was a crowd of youths on the top deck, making a lot of noise as groups of teenagers typically do. A passenger came downstairs to complain to the driver, who did nothing.
After the bus had travelled a few stops, the noise became much louder, so loud i could hear it over my iPod. The driver was forced into taking action. At the next stop, after allowing passenger to disembark, he placed a radio call, reporting the noisy crowd on the upper deck. He then kept the bus at the stop and did not continue with the journey. One or two passengers from the lower deck (which was about one-third full) spoke to the driver, and understanding that he had called the police decided that everything was OK. They would wait and continue their journey after the police solved the problem.
After the bus was stationary for several minutes, one of the noisy crowd from the upper deck came downstairs to see why we were not going anywhere. He went straight back up stairs and announced:
Hey guys, I think they are waiting for us to get off. I’m serious, when I went down there everyone looked at me – I’m telling you, they want us to get off
Next comes a girl – about 16, with an assertive manner – who walks right up to the diver:
What is the problem – do I have to get off?
She gets no answer at all from the driver, despite trying several times. So she walks back upstairs, and tells the crowd that they have to get off the bus. Down they come, totalling about 30, and get off. The girl then gets back onto the bus, and once more addresses the driver:
Why didn’t you tell us? You could have asked us to be quiet? You could have asked us to get off the bus sooner, and not wasted everyone else’s time?
Again no response from the driver, several others from the group get on and again question the driver. Very politely, clearly annoyed, but mostly curious as to why no-one had said anything to them. They still got no answer and eventually got off the bus. Immediately the driver closed the doors, and drove off.
