My Sunday Rant

The temperature is in three digits here in L.A. and that brings on all the old problems. Funny how, when I worked for South Wales Transport the heaters never worked, here in Sunny Southern California the air conditioning doesn't work. At least we could wrap up against the cold, heat is something else and it makes tempers rise. Especially when someone decides it's too damn hot and they can't drive anymore. Then that bus is on stop and the bus behind has to take up the slack. The bus gets overcrowded and there's a tinderbox in more ways than one.

It doesn't help that some of the driver's here have no idea how to handle tricky situations. Metro pays a decent wage to the driver's and it used to be the culture that you got minimum wage for driving the bus, the rest of the money is yours for being a professional, for being the psychiatrist, the counselor, the friend to those who need the bus. Too much of that has gone out the window.
I'm the last one to say that the management of this company is anywhere near perfect. There's too much politics and not enough business running this joint, but I wish some of the driver's had a better concept of what their job is all about. When the guy in front starts passing bus stops , leaving people behind just because he's a few minutes late, leaving the driver behind to pick up his slack, I'm not thinking what's his opinion of the bus company or what's his opinion of the passengers. I'm thinking; What's his opinion of me? The objection I have to bus company hiring policies is one that's not unique to any company. It seems that all over the world the same thing happens. Everyone knows that not everyone is suited to being a bus driver, but the bus company Hires everyone. That's the first part here's the second bit where they go wrong. If you were to ask a Supervisor, or inspector in the UK, why they applied for promotion the honest answer from the majority is that they couldn't handle the passengers anymore. My question to anyone is; If you owned a business, any business not just transportation, would you promote into management the people who can't stand your customers? That's what bus companies do and what makes that worse is that the person promoted hasn't changed, he''s still the same. Only now his customers are the bus drivers and he still doesn't like his customers.
OK that's my Rant for today.