On the Buses in Bournemouth Can Be No Easy Ride

Reading today's article in the Echo about Emma Woolley and her husband Chris intimidating a Wilts and Dorset bus driver got me thinking about my own experiences on the buses. Poor bus driver, Zoe Oakley, had to take weeks off work because these wasters decided they would begin a pointless campaign of harassment against her. Unfortunately, unsavoury incidents involving the good folk who use the area's public transport are not isolated.

The Poole/Bournemouth/Christchurch services are, by and large, pretty good, run primarily by Wilts and Dorset and Transdev Yellow Buses. They both offer modern fleets of relative comfort and they largely run on time. Ticket prices are bearable and although you get the odd surly driver, they're not a bad bunch. If only the same could be said about some of the passengers. When knocking off from a late-night shift at the Oceanarium one evening, I had the 'pleasure' of riding the number 5 bus back to Winton. Granted it was a Saturday evening but I was still not expecting the following events. Now, before I begin, let me mount a quick-fire defence against those who may feel that I'm jumping on a Daily Mail-esque bandwagon. I'm not. I'm no prude nor a complete degenerate and at 24, I'm certainly no fuddy-duddy. So yes, what I'm about to describe, does matter to the young(er) members of the local populous too.

Anyway, I was (slightly) shocked and embarassed when having been travelling just a matter of minutes, I hear violent retching coming from the back seat. Oh yes, it sounded nice and juicy and a girl of no more than about 15/16 could be seen and heard emptying her insides. The driver, no doubt completely unamused, pulled over only for the protests of the feckless companions and the baffled faces of the rest of us to persuade him to continue. The girls' friends and an assortment of other youths unknown to her seemed to think her paralytic state was a huge joke. She didn'tknow if she lived in West Howe or West Moors or how she was getting there. I think she had a friend with her but no support. She was vulnerable and she wasn't getting any sympathy.

To make matters worse, a German family, obviously on their holiday had boarded at the train station and this is what welcomed them to Bournemouth. There's been a lot in the media lately about how we should feel proud to celebrate our Englishness this St. George's Day. I felt ashamed that evening as the Germans cowered. I love a good drink but until I'm sick on a bus? No thanks. We've all been there when we were younger and tested the boundaries with alcohol. Let's hope this experience taught this young 'un a lesson.

So well done Wilts and Dorset for setting an example and slapping a restraining order on the Woolleys. Travelling by bus in daytime is generally a pleasant experience. At night it can get a bit rowdy but that's to be expected. What we don't want is it to become acceptable for this kind of behaviour and quite frankly, it'll be better for all of us if people like the aforementioned assortment aren't allowed to travel.