Random Rant : The Singing Bus Driver

Well, OC Transpo finally did the right thing and told ‘The Singing Bus Driver’ to cease and desist.  It’s about time.

I only had him as a driver a couple of times and, let’s be clear, I never put in a formal complaint about him.  As funny as it seems, for some of us a bus ride is quiet time.  It is the last 20 minutes in the morning where we can gather our thoughts, and think of the day ahead.  It is the first 20 minutes after the work day, where we can finally have time to ourselves and catch our breath.  In the few cases where The Singing Fool was my bus driver, I was heading to visit a sick relative, and trying to plan ahead for what I would have to face.  To be sonorously assaulted by someone singing X-mas carols at the top of his lungs was certainly not welcome and a little much.  Also, I cannot understand how this guy can justify forcing a captive audience to listen to him.  It’s not as if the ridership had a choice, other than getting off and waiting for the next bus.

Two elements to this story mystify me.  First, I am amazed that some riders defend him, mostly because, well, ‘he was so much fun…’  I think it probably comes down to the old introvert/extrovert dichotomy, with extroverts not understanding just how much something like this invades our space.  Second, this was a major local story in The Citizen.  Although it should not really be surprising, given The Citizen’s never-ending quest to portray Ottawa a small Valley town… But that’s another rant…