Says thanks to bus driver

[hesnearly3]

Why do ppl do this? Why thank for a journey that u have paid for? And the driver hopefully drove safely but that's their jobs. So why say thanks? I don't get it

Second nature to people who have been brought up to have manners. I don't even realise I've said it most of the time.

I hope no one says thank you for anything in the future, maybe then you'll get it!

*to you. Why is there no edit feature on this site?

I couldn't get off a bus without thanking the driver I'd feel like I left a bag behind.

To be pleasant. To be appreciative. To recognise that it's a person doing the job, not a robot.
I'm a teacher and paid for what I do, but at the end of the lesson, loads of kids say "thank you!" and loads of parents email me thanks. It's lovely, and a bonus.

@Hallyup5

Second nature to people who have been brought up to have manners. I don't even realise I've said it most of the time.

And to people who weren't brought up to have manners but are nicer than their older relatives.

I'm aghast by the attitude of the OP. But then, I thank the ATM when it gives me money, so...

I get on the bus daily in London and it IS unusual for anyone to thank the driver, it’s not the done thing certainly not in my part, I don’t thank the driver neither do pretty much any of the passengers. The odd one does now and again but they usually stand out.

I always say thank you - it wouldn’t occur to me not to.

Manners come out of your mouth - not your purse.

Manners cost nothing.

They are called manners, love

Are you British? I have a feeling you’re not British.

OP has a point. Thanking someone (driver) for failing to behave like an arsehole is a bit weird. But it's very very British. So people do it all the time.

I see the OP hasn't been back. I suspect this is a case of Wind them up and watch them go!

@yeOldeTrout

OP has a point. Thanking someone (driver) for failing to behave like an arsehole is a bit weird. But it's very very British. So people do it all the time.

But you're not thanking them for not behaving like an areshole, you're thanking them for delivering you safely to where you want to be.

I always say thanks, unless it's extremely crowded, because then they probably wouldn't hear you unless you shouted

It was drilled into me growing up to do this, basic manners. I still do it..it does feel a bit weird on London buses if I recall because of layout.

DH was most impressed when someone thanked him for getting them to their destination recently, because a) he's a train driver so it rarely happens b) it was Penelope Keith!

I always thank them, I don't call them 'drive' though, just a cheery thank you. I thank cabin crew when I leave a plane too as I'm walking out of the plane. Same thing.

This must have been really, really vexing your mind, OP, to have started a thread about it, and with such a determined standpoint.

It really doesn't matter. Don't do it if you don't want to and move on.

@yeOldeTrout

OP has a point. Thanking someone (driver) for failing to behave like an arsehole is a bit weird. But it's very very British. So people do it all the time.

Where on earth did you get the idea that passengers are thanking the driver for “failing to behave like an arsehole”?

You know good manners are a thing, right?

And it’s not just a British thing. When I lived in Germany I found people unfailingly polite. When you went into the waiting room at the doctors, everyone would say “Guten Tag” to you and you’d say it back. You’d even say it as you walked towards a stranger in the street. I loved it.

Manners?

I've stopped though, thanking nobody in particular as I'm getting out of the tube. That was a tough one to break.

I haven't stopped thanking cashpoints though, when the money comes out. I wish I would though, it' must look weird.

Thanking someone (driver) for failing to behave like an arsehole is a bit weird

Is that what you thank them for? I think you are the weird one!

I thank them because I am very appreciative that they do a job that I would hate, in traffic that I wouldn't want to drive in, and so I get to where I want to go with no stress or hassle.

I'm a curmudgeonly old misanthrope, with social anxiety and I say thank you when I get off a bus. Why wouldn't you?

Ummm... common decency?! It wouldn't occur to me not to thank anyone for a service - bus driver, plumber, waiter, cleaner, etc. I wouldn't dream of getting off a bus without thanking the driver and consider those who don't to be the height of rudeness.

It’s a very British thing. Doesn't happen anywhere else. Nice, but yes I also don't get it.

Happens in the States. Thank the bus driver, have a bit of small talk, especially if it’s a route you frequent. Thank them again on the way out.

Only in England have I been told to say thank you by a bus driver because I hadn’t said it in his preferred time of conversation. I say it once I’m given my ticket. He wanted it before that and was rude in tone assuming I wasn’t going to say anything despite never having met him before on a bus I barely take.