I had just boarded a bus this morning when just after a few
minutes at around 5.07am it came to a halt. Few passengers alighted and more boarded.
The last to board was a young, athletic man in his late twenties or early
thirties judging from his demeanor. Swiping his oyster card, the system
returned a red beep to signal that he did not have enough crediton his card.
When
such a situation happens, the obvious thing is the holder of the card to dig
into his/her pocket and pay in cash or alternatively getting off the bus. On rare cases I would imagine a customer could
be allowed to still continue with his/her journey without interruption provided
there was a reason to allow such a judgment. I say it is rare because I have
never heard it reported.
This particular man was a bit interesting. Following his arguments
I gathered he was not pleading to be allowed into the bus but rather seemed to
question the driver why his card did not have credit.
They say-the customer is
always right- and the bus driver seemed to understand that philosophy pretty
well-he gave him a listening ear. The would-be passenger went on and on about how he
had spent the last top-up. Having heard enough the driver asked his oyster card
and whipped it on the reader. As this was happening the other passengers were
getting impatient and agitated.
A loss
of just a minute in London might mean missing your next connection, so their
anger and frustration can be understood. One elderly woman right behind me shouted ‘young
man release the bus and get out now.’ In solidarity with the elderly lady,
another well-built man added, ‘or I will have to remove you myself.’ At this point I was looking at my watch and a
loss of few more minutes would have meant me loosing my connecting bus to the
airport and consequently my flight but this particular situation was out of my
control so I just sat calmly and watched as things unfolded.
Signalling danger, the fellow took the print-out from the
driver and seemed to agree that indeed he had spent all his money. Turning back
in shame or fear of retaliation from other passengers for wasting their time he
started swearing as he left the bus while the passengers celebrated and one seated
next to me shouted ‘good radiance.’ I doubt the passengers would have let him in even if he got a green light from the driver.
As we neared my stop I pressed a button to signal to the
driver I needed to get out. The door opened and in a flash catapulted towards the station. It would normally take me ten minutes to cover that distance but I
only had less than five. I got to my bus just as the driver ignited the key.Even when he said good morning I could not respond-I was out of
breath. I just smiled, flashed my ticket
and found my seat.
Thankfully I got to the airport an hour earlier and that
meant I could sit down and relax and get my day started properly with a cup of
tea.
Grabbing my hot cup I retreated to a secluded table and
pulled out a newspaper I had picked on the way. All the paper carried, seemed
about people complaining about life. From ‘Tax to tackle London bubble’ to ‘Luis
Suarez vs Mirallas hideous tackle.’ It was too early for me to engage with such ‘sensational’
articles in the morning after what had happened earlier. I needed something
more refreshing.
I folded the paper and kept it away. I got my notebook and pen
and started scribbling my journal. I was caught in that intense mood that I
lost conscious of what was happening around me. At one point I posed to think as I looked
straight on my paper on the table as my fingers played with my pen. Just turning my eyes to the left and to the
right I saw feet of two men. They had well polished shoes and wore well ironed
trousers.
Still not moving my head, I looked at my two bags both lying on my both
sides. There was a sniffer-dog which seemed to be carrying out an order with
articulation. I decided to look up and on my left stood a well built man with
police uniform who wore a stern face. On his hands was a semi-automatic calibre
weapon and stack on his waist belt was a glock pistol and his friend seemed to have
the same paraphernalia too.
I don’t know what took my mind but I looked straight into the
eyes of one of the officer and asked him, ‘what is going on here?’ I presume I
should have been the one answering that question from the police. The police officer smiled and literary laughed
for what I thought was the lack of an answer to my question. The same was happening at the other end of
the coffee shop.Dogs sniffing and officers on the look out for anything suspicious. This brought back old memories when growing up as I wanted to
one day become a soldier and serve nations.
We exchanged few pleasantries and they left.At times we may not like police and their actions but these men
and women work round the clock to secure our streets from terror and keep it
clean from drugs. Kudos to London Police!!
