Public transport provides many benefits to the users, other than that of getting them/us from Point A to Point B. You do not have to worry about the details of the route, other than in the simplest details, such as where you get on and where you get off. The bus driver will generally help you out on these finer points of journeying. For example, on my way home from the airport on Monday I did actually get on the wrong bus, but realised this quickly, and the bus driver confirmed the number of the bus I should have taken. I do not always keep infrequently-used bus numbers in my head, just where they go.
And yesterday, on my way home from my pacemaker checkup, I decided to walk part of the way home, so as to keep the body (if not the mind) fitter.
I was running late for this medical appointment, but having managed to get there on time, sat patiently waiting for my turn to be called. After an hour, I had finished my magazine, the other magazines in the waiting room were from 2009 and 2010, and thus very old news and comments, the waiting room had emptied, and I wondered what was going on. So I asked, and it did appear that there had been something off a stuff up in the paperwork pile relating to who was there and who was next. I said I did realise they were busy, but there had been a failure in courtesy. This was acknowledged. Good.
The result of the c heckup is that my heart is working pretty well, and the pacemaker is not needed very often. I have been put down for annual checkups.
Having walked halfway home, I caught the bus. I often note how mothers with young children seem to fail to instil in their darlings how to travel safely, how to be considerate and polite in public, and are permitted to stand on seats, instead of keeping still and learning elementary safety measures to be used on public transport. Are they permitted to travel by car without using the seat belts, I wonder? The child in yesterday's bus whined and grizzled, and refused all offers - a bottle of milk, snacks, amusements, until eventually he was given the iPhone, which shut him up. Naturally he had not stayed in his pusher, but was clambering over the seats. This is not safe. But I held my peace.
When the bus neared my stop, I prepared to descend. The mother tried to get her kid back into the pusher, and he was totally unobliging - a little brat, in fact.
So I interfered, helped the mother, told the child firmly but nicely, that he had to sit down in the pusher and get his straps done up, as it was time to get off the bus. He complied. We all got off the bus, and the mother thanked me.
But why cannot the parent just insist that when on public transport the child may not stand on seats, get on and off them and wander around from seat to seat? And why can they not cope without being fed constantly, or being plied with drinks? And why cannot so many parents not find ways to make travelling interesting?
And yesterday, on my way home from my pacemaker checkup, I decided to walk part of the way home, so as to keep the body (if not the mind) fitter.
I was running late for this medical appointment, but having managed to get there on time, sat patiently waiting for my turn to be called. After an hour, I had finished my magazine, the other magazines in the waiting room were from 2009 and 2010, and thus very old news and comments, the waiting room had emptied, and I wondered what was going on. So I asked, and it did appear that there had been something off a stuff up in the paperwork pile relating to who was there and who was next. I said I did realise they were busy, but there had been a failure in courtesy. This was acknowledged. Good.
The result of the c heckup is that my heart is working pretty well, and the pacemaker is not needed very often. I have been put down for annual checkups.
Having walked halfway home, I caught the bus. I often note how mothers with young children seem to fail to instil in their darlings how to travel safely, how to be considerate and polite in public, and are permitted to stand on seats, instead of keeping still and learning elementary safety measures to be used on public transport. Are they permitted to travel by car without using the seat belts, I wonder? The child in yesterday's bus whined and grizzled, and refused all offers - a bottle of milk, snacks, amusements, until eventually he was given the iPhone, which shut him up. Naturally he had not stayed in his pusher, but was clambering over the seats. This is not safe. But I held my peace.
When the bus neared my stop, I prepared to descend. The mother tried to get her kid back into the pusher, and he was totally unobliging - a little brat, in fact.
So I interfered, helped the mother, told the child firmly but nicely, that he had to sit down in the pusher and get his straps done up, as it was time to get off the bus. He complied. We all got off the bus, and the mother thanked me.
But why cannot the parent just insist that when on public transport the child may not stand on seats, get on and off them and wander around from seat to seat? And why can they not cope without being fed constantly, or being plied with drinks? And why cannot so many parents not find ways to make travelling interesting?
1 comment:
I wish I knew. Sometimes it seems to me that children rule the roost in many households. Usually not pleasantly. Whinging little despots too often.
I am thrilled that your pacemaker is only intermittently necessary though - and love that you extracted an apology from the practice.
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