A few posts back Dave wrote "keep them coming" to me, after a true story from 1957. So--here we go. In the early 1980s I worked for the new born National Express. This was like an ordinary bus service, passengers got on and off, but over much longer distances. The passenger didnt have to book, the driver didnt know really where anyone was getting off, nor getting on come to that. So there I was, driving from Sheffield heading towards Manchester and North Wales. Stopped at Stocksbridge, around 8 miles west of Sheffield. Next stop, Denton, east of Manchester---the other side of the Pennines.
This is going to be hard, now, without facial expressions and tones of voice. But I'll do my best. This old fellow appears by my left elbow. "D r i v e r. What---have you done---with my WIFE?"" Me: Err,err -- Pardon. "I said WHAT --- HAVE YOU DONE --- WITH MY WIFE?" Me: Well----I'm not too sure---what you're talking about. Old man. " Well you stopped up the road and my Wife got off to go to the toilet ---- and I hav'ent seen her since." The last stop was Stokesbridge, 20 miles back, and the other side of the Pennines. Excuse the language, but my mind went "Oh doggy doos." Did she tell me she only wanted to go to the toilet? knowing full well she hadnt. Passenger. I dont know, ---but you could see she wanted to go to the toilet. Im not sure to this day what he meant by that.
I dont even remember how I got around that problem, 40 passengers wanting to go to M/C N Wales and the prospect of turning back 40 miles. Believe it or not we solved similar problems every day, no mobile phones, no one superior to ask, but a lot of laughs in later years when we went over our experiences. Mike
