To be embarrassed to be a Bus Driver… 😔

[Benny91]

Hi all,

I’ve been a bus driver for 3 years now working out of the Surrey area and I’m finding it to be a menial job and I feel like a loser for doing it at age 33!

I feel like I should of made a better life for myself and should of gone to university, but being in Special Needs classes at school and in general having a minor learning disability has made me not fulfilling my life and seeing people around my age doing so well for themselves! 😩

Also people I’ve come across even smirk or mock me for being a bus driver!

What are your views on bus driving? Should I suck it up and is it in your opinion an embarrassing job?

I have the utmost respect and admiration for bus drivers.

I could NEVER drive anything that big! You have a genuine skill not just pushing a mouse round a desk.

I always thought of bus drivers as being better paid than most. Why are you putting yourself down ? And in fact who the fuck cares what anyone else does for a living ? Baffling

I keep trying to get my DS to be a bus driver as it’s much better paid than what he does now and he loves driving, win win. Ok, you’re not a heart surgeon but most people aren’t 🤷‍♀️ It’s a great job and nothing to be ashamed of.

It’s not embarrassing at all. Truly. I have a doctorate but can’t drive a bus or any large vehicle, I don’t like driving at all, a MN cardinal sin! If anyone judges you, that reflects entirely upon them.

Definitely no need to be embarrassed. If those students seem to be sneery, they are tosspots. They are also likely to be either unemployed tosspots in a few years with big student loans or wishing they too could be a bus driver as they serve another burger. Hold your head up high.

Where does it say the OP is female?

I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone make fun/look down on bus drivers? If anything, I’ve heard DP say that’s it’s a job for life if anyone wants something stable since they’re so sought after (at least in our area there seems to be a constant shortage).

And either way you can be a bus driver and still pursue university on your spare time, have you looked into OU?

Today DH and I took a bus in Devon. The bus driver was polite, really careful not to drive off before the very elderly passengers sat down and handled some tricky narrow roads with skill. And said goodbye to us when we got off the bus
Both DH and I commend what a lovely bus driver he was.
You are providing an essential service and if some ppl look down on you well that’s their issue not yours.

I couldn’t decide if this post made me sad or angry. I hate living in a society that puts people down or places value on one job or another by some shitty socially constructed idea of status.

Sure you can be happy in a job or not and most people probably wish they could earn a bit more money but being a bus driver doesn’t make anyone a loser. What makes a person a loser is lack of character or integrity (and I can think of a lot of well paid jobs that attract these types of losers!). A lot of people find fulfilment by having a worthwhile job that contributes to society.

Go try and see what else is out there if you would simply prefer to do something else. But ignore everyone else. The people that matter don’t mind and the people that mind don’t matter.

You are by no means defined by the job you do.

I’ll add to this, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the job you are doing.

Please do not define yourself by what you think you should have achieved. You have achieved!

Be proud of yourself. I’m sure you put a smile on lots of people’s days in your job.

Do not measure yourself by other people. You are doing a great job.

I’ve recently had to stop driving and get the bus more often. I would never look down on a bus driver. They and you are helping.

Be proud of yourself x

Earning almost 40k in a reasonably low stress job with a good social purpose with no uni fees sounds absolutely fabulous to me. There’s no way I’d ever look down on a bus driver and I’m surprised you feel this way.
You should be proud of yourself.

London Bus drivers probably earn more than I do and I was in top sets at school and went to a top university for undergrad and masters…. So I think perhaps they made the wiser choice!
On a human level, I really appreciate drivers who show a bit of kindness to passengers. It mates the world a better place.

This thread reminds me of a former (very snobby) boss who 's 13 year old son son had said about classmates "Well, they'll be emptying bins when I'm doing something better"

I remarked that refuse collectors could be very well remunerated with overtime, bonuses etc and she was horrified. "Oh God! Don't let him know that, he'll want to do it".

I use the bus a lot and bus drivers are some of my favourite people. You have to keep calm under pressure, deal with the public day-in, day-out, understand the balance between waiting that extra 30 seconds as someone sprints to get on vs delaying everyone else, manoeuvre a huge vehicle on crowded London streets, deal with crowds when other forms of transport are up the spout... and do it all by yourself, no less.

Without a functioning bus network, many people would be much more isolated. You and all bus drivers have my respect.

Thing is, a lot of motorists don’t respect anyone! It’s just you’re on the road a lot so come across it a lot. The roads are so busy that even if it’s only 5% wankers and 5% who are normally considerate but in a rush that day, that’s a lot of people driving badly. Drives me nuts every time I’m on the road. Hope I’m only an areshole driver 5% of the time…. 🙈
anyway, I definitely do respect bus drivers. Anyone who doesn’t has their own problems. It’s a good, solid (and essential!) job

A job is a job. Unless you are in the 1 percent richest or poorest then we're all pretty much in the same boat. Many uni grads are not doing partucuarly well. Quite a few people without any gcses have made a lot of money regardless.
Anyone that is being paid a wage by an employer is just a worker. Some get paid enough to have a slightly newer car and go on two holidays instead of one and have an en suite bathroom.
That said, if bus driving isn't doing it for you anymore, then study something you do enjoy part time. See if you can slowly make a switch to something else you want to do. Its never too late.

Hi OP,
There is no shame in an honest days work.

I'm a carer (adults with learning disabilities) and I bloody love my job. It involves lots of cleaning including cleaning toilets and luckily for me I couldn't give a fuck what snobs think about my job.

To be honest I often think (reading the budgeting threads) that the people that commute, work very long hours and spend their high wages on extortionate rents and lots of childcare are the people I feel sorry for. Often I see that their income is a grand or two more than mine but so are their outgoings and I don't envy them the stress.

I love that I don't have to worry about work when I'm not there which I imagine is also a plus of your job.

I would admire a bus driver. I've always driven small cars and wish I could drive something bigger to help lug my son's music equipment around like my husband does. I've tried driving his Touran a couple of times and found it stressful!

The mistake you are making is giving a shit what ignorant people think. If you enjoy your work and enjoy your homelife don't change to try to impress others. The vast majority of people would respect you and your job. Someone that is so ignorant as to sneer at you doesn't deserve a moment of your thoughts.

You can change your life or you can stay the same. The time will pass regardless. Oh and a lot of the smirking students will graduate and get a job in McDonald's so don't compare yourself to them.

I'm full of admiration for bus drivers! It's a very responsible job ...and how you drive a big vehicle like that about I don't know! I don't even like driving my 2-seater Smart car!

I think it's a cool job.

Oooh I love a bus driver! Honestly, I have a thing for them.. you look all powerful and masterful driving a bus… it works for me 🥵 💪🏼 😍

Being a bus driver is a very decent job. You should absolutely not be ashamed.

You’re not the loser. I have 3 degrees, work nearly 50 hours a week (including unpaid overtime) and earn a lot less.

Well they are unmannered little snots. There's a university library in the north of England where I regularly go to work on my PhD. The bus serves the city, campus and a nearby village and everybody who gets off the bus - locals, students (including the huge overseas contingent) thanks the driver. No-one has to tell them, they just do it. We are all busy people and we make a point of being pleasant to those who help us live our lives.

Driving a bus is a good, solid way of earning your living. It's not low-skilled or low paid and rightly so, given the high level of responsibility involved. That said, if you are beginning to wonder if there's anything else out there...why not? A relative of mine got tired of the buses (especially the clientele on school services!) and retrained to drive trams instead. Then there were redundancies...so my relative switched to the bakery counter of a supermarket. Of course you can contemplate a change of career. But don't be influenced by rude adolescents - they don't know the first thing about you or your life.