Mum Waited For A Bus..Guess What Happened Next?

@Janey1966 (24170)
Carlisle, England
March 7, 2010 1:55pm CST
In true "Mum" style she waited...and waited for a bus after buying some food in Town. Nothing came. Fifteen minutes went by..so she asked someone about the distinct lack of public transport in the area. She asked a guy across the road about it, saying something like, "Aren't the buses running today as I've been waiting here for 15 minutes?" To which he replied, "Well, to be honest you would be waiting a lot longer for a bus than 15 minutes love!" "Why is that?" she asked.. Well, it turns out that there are ROADWORKS along the street she was actually waiting for the bus on and she didn't realise until the guy had told her. There were cones, the road was dug up, allsorts "so there's no way a bus could get down the street!" I swear the above story is true as that's what my Mum is like...in a bit of a dream world. She did catch a bus eventually but in an entirely different location, which I suppose is something! Mum told me all this on the telephone just now and she doesn't half cheer me up! Have you ever waited for a bus for absolutely ages not realising they (either) weren't running or there were roadworks er, on the actual street lol.
3 people like this
11 responses
@pandaeyes (2065)
8 Mar 10
Yes ,we lived near a little village about 25 years ago. I decided I would walk down to the next village on as it was a holiday from work. It was about 5 miles but I thought that it would be a lovely walk and I could ride back on the bus. Anyway much much later and waiting and waiting for the bus. I finally asked someone who was walking past the stop ,only to be told, there were no buses today as it was a bank holiday. Coming from London, that sounded absurd to me as Bank holiday was the day when people went for rides around town or to the sea side. Anyway eventually I had to walk the 5 miles back and it was nearly all uphill too.
1 person likes this
@zed_k4 (17589)
• Singapore
8 Mar 10
5 miles.. wow... pretty tough there..
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
8 Mar 10
You poor thing! Don't talk to me about Bank Holidays lol. My Dad (when he had a car) decided he wanted to take me and Mum out on August Bank Holiday Monday a few years back. He doesn't normally venture out of Blackpool but on this day he decided to drive on the B roads to Lancaster, rather than on the motorway. The journey itself was fine, really enjoyable. However, once we got to Lancaster we soon realised that the place was "shut!" Nothing open at all! I bet it's still the same now. As for taking a so-called short cut; well, I've done that (or so I thought) on my bike. Upon coming out of a place called National Savings in Blackpool I normally turned right, then onto the main roads. On this occasion I explicably decided to turn left and boy, did I regret that decision! It was a country road that actually went the LONG way round so my journey time was doubled. Absolutely shattered when I got home..after working all day as well, you can imagine what I looked like. Haha!
@pandaeyes (2065)
8 Mar 10
I know,my legs were like jelly by the time I got home. LOL. I was quite challenging of myself to walk 5 miles one way but I wouldn't have done it if I had known there was the walk back too. Hardly any pavements in that area either so you have to walk at the edge of the road against the flow of traffic.
@zed_k4 (17589)
• Singapore
8 Mar 10
That was partly hilarious and partly worrying.. the fact that someone said no bus down the street would pass by.. if I were your mom, I'll be totally worried. And partly hilarious because your mom was like in a bit of trance or in a dream world as you have said. But glad that she managed to catch a bus eventually..
@zed_k4 (17589)
• Singapore
10 Mar 10
Dreams are great fantasies of the mind.. awesome...
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
8 Mar 10
She's always been a dream world, just like me lol.
1 person likes this
• United States
8 Mar 10
i have more problems with holiday schedule. the way some american holidays are,you never know which they consider major enough to go on holiday schedule(and they don't always stick to it).and then the roadwork,which you'd never know unless you bought last night's paper..
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
8 Mar 10
Yes, it's the same over here with our Bank Holidays. It's all very confusing!
@dawnald (85135)
• Shingle Springs, California
8 Mar 10
I haven't had that happen, but I have had to deal with several buses passing me by because they were full and it was a pretty long wait until the next one came by.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
8 Mar 10
Yes, that has happened to me too. Very frustrating isn't it although I must admit, I don't really like standing up on a bus so that's fair enough lol.
@much2say (53960)
• Los Angeles, California
9 Mar 10
Oh no - your poor mum! Well, my story is a bit different. When I was in 6th grade, we were bussed to a school in another area. So every morning, a school bus came to pick us up at a particular intersection near our house . . . my stop was just me and another boy down the next block. One morning it seemed like the bus was taking too long to come - we kept looking down the street and no school bus was coming. I happened to turn the other direction and I saw the bus pass us by down the "other" street . . . it didn't stop or anything!! I ran home to tell my mom and she called up the school. They sent another bus just to pick me up. Apparently a substitute bus driver drove that morning and of course wasn't familiar with the pick up stops . . . so we were totally overlooked. So I waited for 2 buses that morning!
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
9 Mar 10
Well at least you had the gumption to go home and tell your Mum about it, otherwise you could still be standing there now, which is probably what my Mum would be doing. Haha! Nah, she's not that bad...but bad enough, bless her heart!
@MrBond (28)
• Iceland
8 Mar 10
Actually, I remember I was waiting for a bus after school. After what I think was 20 minutes, I went into the school to ask about the bus schedule. Just then, I saw the bus behind me. I missed it.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
8 Mar 10
Oh what an awful thing to have to happen to you, I sympathise. How long did you have to wait for the next one?
@KrauseHome (36448)
• United States
8 Mar 10
Actually not too long ago I can remember one morning when it was quite a bit cooler out I had to call my husband from work (which luckily he works only 5 mins from where I catch my bus) that a bus had not been by yet, and I was getting Cold and possibly going to be late for work. He ended up having to stop what he was doing and helped to get me to work. I did call our Bus system when I got to work to complain and they checked to see what the issue was for me. Then I also called the next morning to make sure a Bus was running before leaving for the day just to be safe as well. Since then they've never been late again. But I feel for your Mom.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
8 Mar 10
Yes, I have had issues with buses myself and I always ring them to find out what's gone on. In most cases the bus had broken down somewhere. Also, I have witnessed drivers setting off as soon as I get to the bus stop (early, which they are not allowed to do) and I have rang up about that too. It's fair enough a bus being late but when it sets off earlier than it should that's even worse in my view, especially when you have to wait at least 15-20 minutes for the next one.
@BlueAngelRS (2899)
• Canada
8 Mar 10
I can't say that I've had that happen but missing buses well that was always fun lol....I'm glad that your mum asked and she didn't end up waiting there longer for a bus that wasn't coming HappyMylotting....
@sjvenden27 (1840)
• United States
8 Mar 10
Great story... Loved how you put that its a bit of a dream world... Being a mom.. There is so much that has to be done.. It is easy to have those blinders up, and not realize what is going on around you due to the fact your mind is in constant motion... I have waited for a bus that never showed.. but that was when I was in school.. Had no idea that it was a snow day..lol
@newtalent (1112)
• United States
7 Mar 10
Awh, that's so messed up. I am glad she asked ,i would hate to see my mom wait for bus that did not come. I guess she was so in tune with her agenda that she just did not see it. Glad to hear that she is okay and probably laughed mine would of went off because she would be waiting and not pay attention to anything around her. She trusts everyone..... Take care.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
8 Mar 10
Thanks for the response, it's much appreciated. Yes, my Mum is in her own little dream world and I take after her, I'm afraid! I think I would've noticed the road all dug up though lol.
7 Mar 10
That's a good story Janey, at least she didn't leave it too long until she asked someone. I've never done anything like this before, but I have stood at a bus stop waitng for my bus home only to find that I was stood at the wrong stop. That was sometime ago and I was in a strange town, well, that's my excuse anyway. I'm just glad your mum got home...eventually. :)
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
7 Mar 10
Thanks so much for your response my friend. As for me, I have been known (years ago) to get on a bus, only to miss my stop and end up absolutely MILES away from where I should be. My excuse was that I was incredibly nervous as I was on my way to a job interview...so nervous in fact that my stop (and interview) were missed! I then had to wait an absolute age for the bus coming back. Needless to say I've never repeated that performance!