Today, I stitched at the Tewkesbury Abbey with the olde ladies and was actually entrusted to clean up and put everything away! I am so in there like swimwear. It was a great day until...
The Bus Ride Story
I took the bus to the Abbey and decided to get a DayRider pass since it's a flat fee to ride all the the Stagecoach buses from Cheltenham and I had to make a few transfers and it's cheaper than paying to park. Well, I got to Tewkesbury just fine, but when I attempted to use my DayRider pass to return to C-ham, the bus driver told me my ticket was no good in a brusque and I would characterize as very rude voice and manner. When I told him the pass got me to T-bury, he said, "It shouldn't have" in again a curt, rude voice. I then learned in his best bus driver monologue that the DayRider pass is only good in C-ham town limits of which T-bury is not a part since it's well, T-bury, but nowhere does it explicitly tell one that this is the case. So in my best puzzled American voice, I ask what I should have done to get to T-bury on the Stagecoach bus that offers DayRider passes for all-day travel on Stagecoach buses. He said I should have told the driver I was going all the way to T-bury and the driver would have calculated my fare from the first stop outside of C-ham to T-bury. My inner voice (read "annoyed foreigner") response was that the driver should have asked me where I was going! Yet another instance to note in the ongoing "ya just gotta know" column which is never-ending. Over two and a half years and stiiiiill goooing...
Then he proceeded to charge me the fare to go all of the way into the town centre so just to stir the pot a little more, I asked what the fare was to Uckington (great name) which is the first stop outside of C-ham & before entering town limits. It was one pound fifty less so I said I'd pay that and then use my DayRider Pass for the rest of the journey. He grumbled and had to press some buttons on his bus fare machine to make it all better. Meanwhile, the Brits in the bus had expressions on their faces from bemused to befuddled to horrified that I would actually politely disagree out loud with someone regarding money instead of silently accepting my fate, paying the full fare and seething inside for the rest of the ride and writing my complaint letter in my head because it is so much easier and less confrontational to write a letter after the fact. I felt completely vindicated and triumphant that I could work the system to my favor for this one time.
This exchange slightly ruined my good mood, but I read my book on the way home and calmed down and realized the bus driver enjoyed being an ass because really that's the only thing he might have control over as a bus driver and I didn't mind paying an extra fare for the ride in theory and that I got my way and he got his way and all was right in the universe. For now.
The Bus Ride Story
I took the bus to the Abbey and decided to get a DayRider pass since it's a flat fee to ride all the the Stagecoach buses from Cheltenham and I had to make a few transfers and it's cheaper than paying to park. Well, I got to Tewkesbury just fine, but when I attempted to use my DayRider pass to return to C-ham, the bus driver told me my ticket was no good in a brusque and I would characterize as very rude voice and manner. When I told him the pass got me to T-bury, he said, "It shouldn't have" in again a curt, rude voice. I then learned in his best bus driver monologue that the DayRider pass is only good in C-ham town limits of which T-bury is not a part since it's well, T-bury, but nowhere does it explicitly tell one that this is the case. So in my best puzzled American voice, I ask what I should have done to get to T-bury on the Stagecoach bus that offers DayRider passes for all-day travel on Stagecoach buses. He said I should have told the driver I was going all the way to T-bury and the driver would have calculated my fare from the first stop outside of C-ham to T-bury. My inner voice (read "annoyed foreigner") response was that the driver should have asked me where I was going! Yet another instance to note in the ongoing "ya just gotta know" column which is never-ending. Over two and a half years and stiiiiill goooing...
Then he proceeded to charge me the fare to go all of the way into the town centre so just to stir the pot a little more, I asked what the fare was to Uckington (great name) which is the first stop outside of C-ham & before entering town limits. It was one pound fifty less so I said I'd pay that and then use my DayRider Pass for the rest of the journey. He grumbled and had to press some buttons on his bus fare machine to make it all better. Meanwhile, the Brits in the bus had expressions on their faces from bemused to befuddled to horrified that I would actually politely disagree out loud with someone regarding money instead of silently accepting my fate, paying the full fare and seething inside for the rest of the ride and writing my complaint letter in my head because it is so much easier and less confrontational to write a letter after the fact. I felt completely vindicated and triumphant that I could work the system to my favor for this one time.
This exchange slightly ruined my good mood, but I read my book on the way home and calmed down and realized the bus driver enjoyed being an ass because really that's the only thing he might have control over as a bus driver and I didn't mind paying an extra fare for the ride in theory and that I got my way and he got his way and all was right in the universe. For now.
1 comment:
Love, love, LOVE this post. This was like my entire life in England, all wrapped up into one good bus story. Thank you for blogging this and for standing up for yourself, being true to your roots.
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