Retail Balls Award: University Bus Driver Stands Up To Passenger Without ID

From Baby Store Slave:

I have a nomination for a Retail Balls Award for a shuttle bus driver at my school.

I work at an off site location, and the university runs a bus service between it and campus. The bus is free and is only for students and staff, so everyone is required to show a university ID to get on.

Today at the stop the driver suddenly started exclaiming "Excuse me, you have ID? Excuse me!"

I was a little confused because the girl he seemed to be yelling at clearly had hers. The driver turned off the ignition, stood up, and walked to a guy at the back. I figured the guy would show an ID and we'd be on our way, but a few minutes passed so I turned back to see what was going on.

The guy was sitting there with a douchey smirk on his face while the driver quietly talked to him before finally saying more audibly, "You need ID to ride. I'm sorry but ya gonna have to get off."

"I rode over from campus," Doucheysmirk replied.

The driver calmly repeated, "You need ID to ride."

Doucheysmirk tried another tactic and asked, "How'm I supposed to get back to campus?"

I nearly laughed outloud because the location is precisely 1 mile from campus. The bus is mostly for convience not necessity. I've walked between the two on occasion. 

This guy was in no way disabled, or I'm sure he would have mentioned it to get the driver to let him stay on the bus.

It's a downtown area, so it isn't like walking would be a hike through the middle of no where, nor would it be a trek through gang territory. I wouldn't make the walk at night, but feel perfectly safe doing so during the day.

Also, this happened at 5:30 PM on a clear day in Virginia in early October. For people who aren't familiar with the climate, you could hardly ask for more perfect weather even for a walk you don't want to make.

Finally someone else got annoyed and said, "Just get off! You're holding everyone else up."

Douchey started to get flustered then and protested, "I got on at the stop before this one!"

The driver was having none of it, "No you didn't. I seen you climb in the back door just now. You need ID to ride this bus."

Douchey glared, picked up his bookbag and tried one more plea, "Man, how'm I supposed to get back to campus?"

The driver ignored him.

Finally, Douchey gave up and stomped off the bus in a huff.

The driver started up the bus and took us along the route back to campus. At one stop as two staff members were exiting they complimented the driver on how he handled the situation.

I very much agreed with their assessment.

 -- Baby Store Slave

 

 

Comments

[The Last Archimedean]

Good job by the driver.

I hope Douche learned his lesson.

[MahiMahi713]

I'm curious, I know at my school, we have shuttles which are essentially just white/purple school busses that are a quite nicer than the standard school, and while they are supposed to be for students/staff only, the drivers never check ID. We also have a city bus for the school which is free as well, but you have to scan your card. So I guess those shuttle are like our "school bus?"

[Chicajojobe]

@Mahi,

I think it varies depending on the school.
When I was an undergrad the uni I went to also had a bus system, but drivers never checked ID. However, here they do.
Probably because my old uni was in a rural area, so the people on campus who weren't students or staff where few and far between.
This one is in a city, though, so in theory anyone who wanted could get a free ride from what I'd imagine is a fairly costly private transportation service that university foots the bill for.

[Chicajojobe]

*were

/epic grammar fail

[Sarah]

I have to ask, is the university you go to VCU? Because that would just be awesome. I've only heard horror stories about the shuttle (I never took it when I went there).

[derrr]

In many states, not paying for fare on public transportation is illegal and, well, can cost the doer a hefty fine or jail time.

[Ariana]

@Sarah - I was wondering the same thing! I only took the shuttle a few times, and while they weren't great, I never had any really horrific things happen.

[Humor_Me]

Where I live, the bus fare isn't so bad if you are only going on one ride (85¢). If you want an all day ticket though, it's $5.25 unless you are 18 and under or disabled. Then it's $2.60. If you are able to find someplace that pre-sells tickets then they are $3.75 (I think) for full fare and $1.75 for under 18/disabled. They also offer 3 day/1 week/1 month passes, but I don't know the prices for sure on those. I know the 1 month passes are about $60 full and about $30 for under 18/disabled. State supported university students get free passes as well as some businesses giving them out to cut down on traffic and save gas. If you don't go to a state supported university though, you have to pay full price for your ticket. I have seen people try to get on the bus with a reduced fare ticket and not have the proper ID (you have to pay $3.50 for a disabled ID). I have also seen the bus driver tell them to GTFO. Although I carry my ID, I have never been asked for it. They don't check ID's every time you get on the rail system here, but if you are unlucky enough to get caught, there is a huge fine. The transportation security has handheld meters to check everyone's smart ticket and purchased ticket, and if they think you are riding with a reduced card and don't have ID, they will ticket you also.

[Chicajojobe]

I know I share plenty of personal stories on this site, but I'd rather not go so far as to name my school.
I know that by saying that I'm practically begging a hacker to track me down, but, trust me, I'm not that interesting.

I will say though that university shuttle bus hell is pretty, well, universal no matter what school you go to. At least in my experience.

[dissertation help uk]

What a good bus driver. He has a strong sense of what he must do as an employee. I'm sure that douche learned his lesson and wouldn't try sneak into school buses without his ID. If he truly was a student of the school, he wouldn't forget the rules in riding the bus right? Also, if you were right about the short distance to the campus where he could walk to get there, he is one lazy guy to have shown his true color just because he doesn't like to use his feet.