Bus Drama

[kikisparks]

I get the bus home from work and there is often bus drama, sometimes verging on physical altercations.

Today there’s a Mum (I assume) with 3 kids one a very small girl in pram. Wee one is singing but then starts squealing/ yelping/ making animal noises loudly.

Bus driver says to the Mum that he doesn’t mind the singing but can’t cope with the shouting.

The Mum seems very annoyed and says “she’s only one what am I meant to do.”

I had to get off bus and driver said “lucky you.”

So who was BU?

1. Driver
2. Woman
3. Me (surely for some reason, this is AIBU)

(FWIW I have a high tolerance for noise and wasn’t bothered by the LO, not got a predetermined view but probably veering towards driver BU).

I think it must be quite hard to drive a bus through rush hour traffic at the best of times, but doing it on a boiling hot Friday evening with constant screeching in your ear must be quite distracting. Buses are driven by human beings, not robots.

That said, it is quite hard to stop a baby screeching but also generally quite easy to distract them into doing something else. So if she didn't even try, as her precious must be allowed to express herself and everyone should find it adorable, then she was unreasonable.

I'll stand by for all the mothers of young babies outraged at the notion that any effort should be made to minimise their impact on others though. I have children myself and if they were being annoying as youngsters I'd try to distract or soothe them out of it. Not always achievable, but I'd try.

I'm with the driver. Hard to concentrate with loud noises continually blasting your ears.

It's not hard to entertain a one year old. It wasn't distressed just bored.

I'm with the driver.

I'm with the driver, and @Storminateacup says, so difficult to keep LOs quiet, but it's worth trying.... And some parents don't....

Mum was being unreasonable, and rude.

I’d have more sympathy if she’d at least tried to keep the wee one quieter and at least paid lip service to having any consideration for others.

Also with the driver, the parent of the child making the distracting noise needed at least to try to soothe her.

I’m with the driver on this one. I had relatives staying recently with a child who SCREAMED constantly and it was horrendous. Can’t imagine having to drive a bus whilst listening to it, bus driving would be stressful enough on its own.

Disagree with the other posters- I have a 1yr old Who has started random screaming, not stressed not crying, just high pitched yells- nothing stops it

Mum was being unreasonable, can you imagine having a shouting child going on and on when you're trying to drive a bus, in this heat.

Disagree with the other posters- I have a 1yr old Who has started random screaming, not stressed not crying, just high pitched yells- nothing stops it

I had one of them too, now know he’s autistic and could be ear shatteringly loud. When he did, I’d get off the bus. Every time.

Quite apart from anything, a stressed and distracted driver is not the safest driver.

Part of being a driver is being able to deal with the general public. If he can't cope with it then he should get a different job. Obviously as parents we obliged to minimise noise as much as possible but with a child that age its not always possible.

I’m with the driver. She should have made an attempt to distract/play/talk to the baby.

It really really annoys me when parents say “what can I do?” There’s almost always something you can do even if it’s only to apologise.

Obviously as parents we obliged to minimise noise as much as possible but with a child that age its not always possible

She didn’t try and got gobby with the driver instead.

If she did nothing to try to distract/ entertain the child then the bus driver was not being unreasonable. I wouldn't take ds on a bus because this is the sort of goings on that he couldn't cope with and then he would be shrieking etc. He can be noisy in his school taxi but the driver is ( has had) to get used to it

The Mum was a bus wanker

I was in the Doctors surgery today with 2yo twins. LG was running in a circle round the chair and being a bit noisy in an excitable way. I quietly told her to stop running and to be a bit quieter. Cue major meltdown with her screaming full pitch!!

So, shezza - is the moral of your anecdote that you / Mother on bus should not see to correct child’s behaviour as may make it worse

The Mum should’ve at least tried to distract LO into being quieter

But the driver shouldn’t have got arsey.

It's hard to stop a baby making whatever noise they want. How was the mother supposed to have stopped her short of gagging her? I really do believe we should be tolerant of the noises of little ones.

I just remembered something my son did on a bus quite loudly when he was a baby: "Pissa possa, pissy possy, piss piss".

(blush)

He's grown up now, I won't remind him.

'Correct the behaviour' of a 1yo?

Bit baffled at the attitudes of most posters on this thread, tbh.

Bus driver was hugely unprofessional involving you and making that mother feel worse.

The woman, obviously. Hurt feelings don’t compare to potentially being injured in an accident because the driver can’t concentrate. Poor guy probably had a migraine brewing

I had one of them too, now know he’s autistic and could be ear shatteringly loud. When he did, I’d get off the bus. Every time.

So if your baby is crying/making noise on the bus you should get off?

I understand the bus driver being irritated by a squealing baby and I think the mum was a bit rude but not entirely sure what she could have done to stop the child making a noise if she had 2 other dc to watch as well.

Apart from putting duck tape over her mouth which I guess she'd forgot to bring out with her