My bus driver made me cry this morning.
 

"Good morning!" I chirped, because I'm a happy morning person.

And then I proceed to insert $3 into the machine; the cost of the day pass. I put in one dollar bill and 8 quarters. And then I stand, smiling, waiting for him to hand me my pass.

"What?"

"Um, I need my pass."

He stares at me and doesn't move.

"I paid for a day pass."

"No you didn't. You only paid $1.75."

"Yes, I did. I put in $3.00...."

There is a small computer consule with a screen attached to the vending machine that accepts the money. He angrily thrusts it towards me so it bends in a way that I can see the screen which shows the inccorect amount I submitted.

"I put in a dollar and 8 quarters!" I get a little high-pitched here because he's scaring me with how upset he is. And I don't want to have to pay more money and I really don't want him to tell me to get off his bus, because I'm not sure how I'll react, and I've seen these kinds of scenes on busses before and they're awful.

"You calling me a liar?!"

"You're calling me a cheat!" I'm very earnest here. Seriously. The guy was managing to make me feel just god awful and knee high. "I put in $3.00. I ride this bus almost every day. I always pay the right amount. I'm not making this up. The computer has made a mistake. It happens sometimes."

"You should show me the money first!"

He is still visibly agitated when he hands me the pass just to get me to go away, and as I'm walking down the aisle he's barking things at me I can't really make out, but I think it was something to the effect of, "You should get a monthly pass," but I also think there was some especially nice stuff about liars and scammers, etc. It was really upsetting. I wish I could have found the funny in it at the time, but none of the other bus riders seemed fazed by what had happened at all and I felt like everyone thought I was a lying cheat giving the driver a hard time.

If he'd said, "The computer is only registering 1.75. I get in trouble if the till doesn't balance, so even if it's a mistake, could you please make up the difference this time," I probably would have paid extra and grumbled to myself about how that was my morning's coffee expense. What's infuriating is that when they do the math at the end of the day, it WILL show that more money is in the till than what the computer will have totaled, so he'll be just fine. And I bet he won't give a **** that he gave me such a hard time this morning. Or that I spent the next ten minutes crying at my seat because I really don't deal with people yelling at me all that well. It's some kind of nervous release, I guess.

I grew up in a bickering family. Voices raised more often so we could be heard over each other rather than in genuine anger. And the few times I got into angry screaming matches with my parents or brother, I cried afterwards every time, out of frustration and guilt mostly. The apologies were usually quickly exchanged. A woman I really like yelled at me at work once. I very calmly but forcefully told her, as I got a wee bit teary, that she was never to speak to me that way again. That I didn’t deserve it, nor do I handle it particularly well. She can get upset. She can tell me so. But don’t ever yell at me again. She was responsive to this and we both calmed down, and so the floodgates never really did open.

I can be such a wussy pants. Times like these I almost deserve the unfair reputation I had in elementary school as a cry baby, but Morrigoon can tell you, Egremont kids were the DEVIL spawn of the Father of Lies, himself. They could be mean and the cliques were fierce. So if I cried, most likely it was a well earned cry. Like the time my brother “accidentally” slammed the car door on my head, and the last thought before I died was, “He’s killed me. He’s killed me! My own brother!” I’m fairly certain that crying saved my life that day! I had will left enough left in me for that, no matter that my brain had been viced! Well, crying AND the accusation I screamed at him as he turned, pale faced with fear and shock, to apologize, “YOU DID THAT ON PURPOSE!!!!”

“No, I didn’t! I didn’t!”

“DAD!!!!”

“Oh, he did not. It was an accident. You’re fine. Time to go to school.”

“He could have killed me!” I was still screaming. I’m sure I was drawing all kinds of negative attention to myself. And that negative attention taught me a valuable lesson: It does nothing for your reputation or the esteem of strangers to throw tantrums. Ever. Even when you’re in the right about something and that A$$HOLE bus driver can’t just be a nice mother fvcker about it!

So, I remained calm today. And, like a good lil’ cry-baby, cried at my seat. Big fat tears of frustration and indignation and “That mean man hurt my feelings!”

I've always heard that "Might makes right" but it sounds like in this case: "Right makes might". Way to stand your ground. :cool:

That is an awesome quote! Thank you.

I'm so, so sorry that guy was such an asshole.

I have to deal with people all the time that say "The computer is wrong. I paid that the last time I came. I never checked that book out." It's a tricky thing because you can't call them a liar, but in my experience, about 70% of them just don't remember correctly and really believe they're correct, 20% are correct and we did screw up, and 10% are coldhearted liars.

I try to say the most soothing things I can in those situations. "I'm sorry - would you happen to have the receipt still? How long ago was it? Well this was from this and this date," or "well, could you just check at home again? Did you return a bunch of books, and maybe this one was forgotten? You know, so many people find them under the seats in their cars...." etc. The more conversational and empathetic I get, the more likely I'm going to get cooperation.

I know that on a bus that needs to be on time, he can't chat you up like this, but still. No excuse for that. And it can be so embarrassing to cry in public...you poor thing. :(

I'm surprised you don't have a monthly pass though.

Man, people can be so frustrating. People will snap at you over anything these days. Why must people be snappy?

And why is it that you don't have a bus pass? 22 workdays x $3 is much more than a monthly pass!

I like your story, CP. But I feel the need to say again that I absolutely did pay the $3. I put the quarters in one at at time, even, just like they ask you to do. So this time, the computer WAS wrong, even if computers are almost never wrong. I swear to Xenu, God of Scientology. It's nice of you to be so patient at the library, because that would get frustrating. I always own up to my extensive fines, 'cause I know I'm terrible and forgetful about that stuff.

The bus pass thing is tricky. It always seem time to pay for one during my rent check month, and that's difficult. If ever I'm on my bills/fun money check come pass time, I'll get it then. I didn't have one from the beginning because I used to carpool to work (my first year here), so the pass would have been excessive.

It's about $14 difference. And scrounging for bus fair a day at a time somehow seems easier than scrounging for $52 at the end of the month to pay for next month's pass. It's a mindset thing. I'm used to paying every day.

man... I'm so glad my employer subsidizes (at least partially) my bus pass.

There are some NYC companies that do that, since almost all NYC employees take public transportation. That's very nice of your employer.

At the end of the day, it is important to remember that his vocational TV counterpart is Ralph Kramden, and he has probably peaked, career-wise. It's only a matter of time before Asimo takes his job and he is downgraded to cab driver. You, on the other hand, are a writer and can fashion him into a scenario in which his character is first humiliated and then incinerated by a busload of irate ghost-lepers.

Is it wrong of me to laugh at your pain? If it is, you shouldn't write it in such a funny way. You hear me? It is your fault I am laughing at you!!!! Are you crying yet? Did I make you cry?

Easy cryers (criers?) can annoy me. Last month my sister was talking to me about postponing the baby shower she had been planning (a week before it was scheduled to happen) because they hadn't sent out invitations. I calmly and fairly politely explained that my feelings were hurt because they had neglected such an essential task when I had made them the invitation list they had requested on time and that it felt like they didn't care about the shower. Then my other sister gets on the phone and starts yelling at me for being mean because my first sister was crying. I wasn't mean. She just cries easily. So then I start crying (I was ten months pregnant and under extreme stress, I think it was justified) then she feels bad and has to call ten times to apologize.

Wouldn't life without tear ducts be a lot better? We could all hold rational arguments without crumbling into tears? I'm fairly certain that there is an operation for just that sort of thing.

I'm an easy cryer when it comes to my mom and my sisters. I don't know why. I'm pretty much a stone cold stoic with other people. It's as if a lifetime of them knowing exactly which sore spots to push hasn't hardened me at all. Pity. I'd like to be stoic towards them most of all. It's always the people that you don't want to let know that they've gotten to you that break you down in the end, it seems.

Eliza, I totally want to kick his ass!!!!!! Seriously, it's a good thing I stopped carrying a gun, because I have such a strong sense of righteous indignation when it comes to these things. Of course, if I did still carry a gun, we would have never met and I wouldn't be posting this right now, because three years ago I would have shot the asshole who ran a red light and nearly killed me, then had the balls to yell at me for the near collision. He did this for three blocks, which would have been plenty of time to whip out the 9mm and drill him in his big fat piehole. Can you tell I'm still angry about it?;)

If you see him tomorrow, you should make a big, sloooooowwwww show of putting the change, all nickels, in very slowly and counting verrry carefully.:DOh, and Boss Radio is absolutely right on- he is a frikken bus driver, and this is probably as good as it's gonna get for the poor asshole.

I got two words for ya:

Karmic retribution!

You know who needed to come to your aid? Jesus pamphlet boy. Maybe your goodness and his halo would have made that nasty bus driver calm down.

I shake my fist at him... and as an extra bonus I throw him the bird.

Shame on him for making you cry.

Had a bus driver yell at me a couple years ago. I am not one who rides the bus much so I don't know all the ins and outs I guess. I hold my hand up when the bus is approaching and the driver stops to pick me up....and proceeds to tell me that I waved wrong and that "ain't nobody gonna pick you up waving like that".....to this day I am not sure what was so wrong with my wave but I sure am worried that next time I want to take the bus "nobody" will be driving')

Hey babe, don't sweat it - you're part of the 20%. And that's when I say "Oh I'm so sorry, that's something we really try to avoid. Thanks for your patience on that." :cool:

Ugh, I hate it when computer say you're wrong, because there's just no fighting them, no arguing. You, the human, are assumed to be the wrong one every single time. I don't cry, but I do get soooo angry the walls around me start to shake from Carrie-like psykenetic powers of my psycho psyche.

Last month my cellphone bill came to a whopping $125, instead of the $40 it ALWAYS is because I NEVER exceed my minutes. Has never happened once. So my bill shows that, one day in April, my phone made 50 calls to points all over the U.S., one call per minute, every 2 minutes for two hours. Some calls were made while other calls still existed, as if the call to Detroit were placed on hold while the call to Denver was started. This bill was obviously flawed. I did not make these calls. It's not possible to have my jingle-in-the-pockets-unlocked phone make 50 accidental calls to real phone numbers that are not on my speed-dials. And I have never had my phone out of my possession or leant to anyone ever. On this particular day, I was away from my office and - amidst the 50 calls - are two legitimate calls that I made to my office, thus proving I was in possession of my phone at the time these other 50 calls to Flagstaff and Florida and everywhere inbetween were made.

But Cingular's computers tell them the calls were made from my SIM card and that's the end of story. I can "know" all I want, and I know my phone did not make those calls, but there's no arguing with a computer. Heh, not that I want that particular computer in charge of my phone bill ever again, but I'm pissed that I have to drop my cell phone provider over this (cause there's no way I'm paying that bill that I don't owe). Drats ... and I looove my phone number, too. (Isn't there some new law that lets you take your cell phone number with you when you switch providers).

I didn't cry, but that's cold comfort considering how angry I got. Not worth the blood pressure change.

Number portability (that's what it's called) has been in effect for about a year and a half. You can switch providers and still keep your number. You can even switch a land-line number to a mobile phone (or vice-versa).

The only problem you may run into is that your old provider may not let go of the number until you are paid up-to-date. A definite catch-22 in this case.

If a bus driver gives me any grief, I'm sure to let go as vicious an air biscuit as I can muster, just as I turn to leave the bus.