From a Driver’s Perspective – How to Rub your Driver Up the Wrong Way

There’s really no better way on Earth to see a full cross-section of society that by running coach transfer services for holidaymakers – of at least that’s my experience of things. Allow me to explain; I’m a coach driver currently working with Alps2Alps airport transfers and spend most of my working life getting folk from the arrivals hall at Geneva Airport to where they need to be and then back again at the end. Sounds easy I know, but I’d like to bet that you cannot begin to imagine how difficult some people seem to move Heaven and Earth to make it for me.

Don’t misunderstand – I love my job, I’m easy going as it gets and I get along with almost everyone, but like most of you reading this I can’t help but see red when the stereotype ‘Brits Abroad’ attitude crops up on the way to where we’re going.

So for anyone looking for the very best way to rub your driver up the wrong way or worried they might already be guilty, here’s a few of my biggest pet-peeves that you really can’t argue as unreasonable…I hope!

Questions at the Wrong Time

I’m always happy to answer passenger questions and help out when I can. However, this doesn’t mean I’ll take kindly to being asked about the political situation in Korea when I’m trying to navigate a blizzard and sheet ice on the roads. It might be a testament to my driving that everyone manages to stay so calm and relaxed, but seriously – a bit of common sense at the right time makes my life so much more pleasurable!

Boozed up Bussers

There aren’t many that enjoy the smell of second-hand booze from a few meters back and I’d like to bet this counts for double for those that are at work at the time. It might not bother you, but it winds me up when folks get on the bus half-cooked already and then proceed to continue drinking for the whole ride, leaving me with a stink to remind me of them for my next five or six journeys. So please, do me the kindness if you can bear to do so!

Chaotic Kids

I can deal with loud kids ‘til the cows come home – I happen to have three of my own – but not when they’re running amok and being ignored by their parents. You might have got used to shutting your ears to the scream and ignoring what they’re throwing about, but I’m trying to negotiate mountain roads in sub-zero temperatures. Get the picture? A little help here!

Smokers

Seriously – you don’t think I’m going to know you’re smoking in the toilet when it stinks to high heaven and has an alarm fitted? It’s unreal – 100% illegal and as rude as it gets, but something that still happens on way too many journeys I’m piloting. It’s a good way of earning a one-way ticket off the bus and unsurprisingly is something most don’t respond to kindly!

(Photos: shutterstock.com – flickr.com/photos/kessiye)