A couple of years ago when I was driving local buses for Stagecoach in Winchester one of the routes I covered was Winchester to Guildford. The route followed the main road but would turn off and serve a village before joining the main road until the next village came up. Once there were roadworks meaning Bentley could not be served in the normal manner so a minibus would meet the bus and take those passengers into Bentley. At an earlier stop a passenger asked for a ticket to Bentley and I told them that this bus wouldn’t be going into Bentley, because of road works, but to transfer to the minibus when I called out. At this point the local ‘nutter’ shouted out from the back of the bus that this bus always went into Bentley. I explained again why this bus couldn’t and he told me that the last driver had gone into Bentley. I gave up and set off. When we reached the point for the transfer to the mninibus there was no minibus there! I called control and they said they’d just heard from the driver that he’d broken down. I thought about it and decided that I couldn’t wait for a replacement minibus to arrive from Winchester but would, with the controller’s consent, take my bus into Bentley (the problem was that with the road closure it meant the bus had to be turned around in Bentley, much easier done with a minibus than a larger bus). All the way into Bentley the ‘nutter’ kept telling everyone on the bus “I said this bus went into Bentley”, “I told you you were meant to go into Bentley”!
Later, a passenger on leaving the bus leant over to me and said “Have you ever considered a career in the priesthood?” I must have looked a little quizical because he added “You’ve got the patience of a saint”.
I’ve pondered since how such a career might have gone and thanks to FACEinHOLE.com I now know ;-)
