Columnist and journalist George Henderson, of the Gloucester Citizen, had to share “his” bus with hordes of strangers this week – and he wasn’t impressed. This column first appeared in the Citizen and is reproduced with its permission.

Fuel crisis, what fuel crisis? Or so I thought. As someone who gets around on a bicycle or on the bus it shouldn’t really affect me.

But, the strands of society being interwoven the way they are, not even I have escaped and unscathed.

It first struck home yesterday morning as I strolled down to the bus stop for the 7.10am bus to work.

Normally this is a quiet bus and over the years I have got to know the handful of regulars who use it.

It’s like a little club on wheels. We don’t really have much in the way of conversation, just a polite grunt of recognition and a nod.

Everyone has their own seat and as we barrel along, stopping to pick up passengers, each member of the club takes his or her allotted seat.

I tend to plump for the seat just behind the rear wheel arch on the nearside, mainly because it has the best leg room.

Yesterday, however, was different. Because of the fuel crisis, lots of people were leaving the car at home and catching the bus.

So, as the bus approached, I sensed something was wrong. It was moving strangely and sitting deeper on its springs than usual.

And when I stepped aboard, correct fare dutifully in fist, I saw to my horror, the bus was full – of strangers.

Not only that, but some bloke in a suit with a briefcase in his lap was sitting in my seat, blethering into his mobile phone. The cheek of it.

Controlling the urge to challenge his occupation, largely on the grounds that I didn’t have a leg to stand on, I slunk to the back and took the last unoccupied seat on the bus, only to find at the next stop, someone pushing in next to me.

Where do they think they are – London?

I expect full buses at tea-time or during the morning rush-hour, but at seven in the morning I tend to nurse my solitude, read the paper or bury myself in a good thriller until we roll into Gloucester bus station.

On a less grumpy note, it just shows you how many people make unnecessary car journeys when the bus is a perfectly viable alternative.

I suspect the main reason for this is snobbery.

It was noticeable that the newcomers on my morning bus all had that defensive “I’ve got a car really, not like the rest of you riff-raff” look about them.

And of course the mobile phone was out at the first opportunity and with the loudest of voices: “I’m on the bus today…yes, leaving the car at home, you know…yes fuel crisis…”

Hopefully, we’ll be back to normal in a few days and, when we are, it will be interesting to see how many of the new bus people remain.

I suspect about nil.

© Gloucester Citizen September, 2000

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