Walking out of a transport job

[Busaholic]

On a radio programme this morning on the subject of people walking out of jobs and their feelings having done so, a woman phoned in to say she had been working as a conductress on a London 73 bus when she noticed a stream of 'hippies' walking down Oxford Street and asked one of them what was going on. She was told that the Rolling Stones were performing a free concert in Hyde Park and she herself was a huge fan. Result? When the bus got to Hyde Park Corner she had packed all her takings into her conductor's box and went round to the driver in his cab and presented it with her ticket machine to the startled fellow saying 'I'm off!' In those pre-radio days (she didn't say, but I think it would have been July 1969) that would have made an interesting public phone conversation to Tottenham Garage or whoever!

I walked out of my job with London Transport too, not so dramatically but literally. Got to Victoria Station on a Monday morning, should have been a short hop on the bus to (funnily enough) the top stop in Grosvenor Place which is also Hyde Park Corner: instead I walked and walked the other way, can't remember where I got to but do remember sitting in a sandwich bar near Chancery Lane station. I did go back after a few days, having phoned in 'sick' but only to hand my resignation in and serve my notice. I've often pondered whether I should have done that, but it seemed the right thing to do at the time and, having made an enemy of a fairly important (to my future career) middle management person I couldn't envisage progress until he either retired or got moved aside, neither of which were likely in those days of 'jobs for life' at LT.

Anyone else walked out of a transport job and did you regret it later?

 

[lightning76]

I walked out from my job as a driver for a prominent South Coast bus company some years back, after a gentleman of the lower socio-economic groups spat at me for failing to lower the floor of the bus for his partner to manoeuvre her multiple-occupancy buggy off the bus. I was coming off that trip anyway, didn't bother turning up for the second half, or indeed ever again. I can honestly say that while, looking back, I might have made different decisions in my life, work-related decisions are not part of them. Possibly proving that one must follow one's gut instinct, and that work, money etc are not the be all and end all.

The story of the conductor reminded me of a conductor I worked with in London on the 14's. One day we were running late on our last trip up to TCR station. Not wanting to finish late, I flew straight round at Centrepoint, to the stop on New Oxford Street. Watching in the mirror, passengers got off - passengers got on. No bells. Looked round. No sign of conductor. Got out, walked round to back - no conductor. Went upstairs - no conductor. A bus full of people - traffic queueing up behind - now what? Had to explain to the punters that as the conductor had mysteriously vanished, they would have to get off again. Went round to the stand, and pondered whether to drop my clippie in it by phoning the garage. Just as I had my phone in my hand, she came running up Charing Cross Road, out of breath. Turned out this female, addicted to telephoning assorted relatives but not posessing a mobile - this being before absolutely everyone had one - had rung me off from Foyles then stepped off the bus to go to the phone box. Not long afterwards the same thing happened again, but on the second occasion I got back to Green Park before discovering that a passenger had been ringing the bus off all the way from TCR. Shortly afterwards I went to the OM and requested a change of conductor. Not long after that the lady concerned was sacked after an inspector discovered her asleep on the back seat whilst in service.