Double whammy

The family decided to take the bus into Kingston this afternoon to see some friends and take advantage of the sun and the river.

TfL decided to go to new lengths to waste our time: the first (regular) bus said he didn't have space for another buggy, and drove off before we could simply fold it up, despite the fact he'd clearly seen us run the last 200m in order to meet him at the stop.

The second (double-decker) bus simply didn't stop.  It was definitely a functioning service, and certainly not too full.  The driver suddenly saw us as he hurtled past the stop and grimaced and gestured apologetically at us to recognise his general uselessness.  In doing so, he took both hands from the wheel.  It also occurred to me to wonder what kind of training a bus driver goes through that enables him to drive without actually looking out for the bus stops on his route and specifically for people waiting at them.  Do we think the Olympic bonus helped them with bus stop recognition?

The third (double-decker) bus did pick us up and take us to our destination, albeit trying his hardest to shake all his passengers to pieces with his piss-poor driving.

At that time, on a Saturday, the buses don't commit to real schedules - just that usual 'every 6-10 minutes' hogwash.  Today that worked in our favour (and TfL's), since all three buses turned up within eight minutes of one another, meaning we didn't have to wait too long (though thanks to the irregular service this kind of bunching causes, some people were undoubtedly left waiting for half an hour or more...) between buses.  Still, eight minutes is £20.