Good Deed Feed

I generally take a butchers at the good deed feed in the Metro at some point on the train each morning during my commute to work. (It’s funny how a journey never gets any less painful the more times you do it.)

Well, this morning, I saw a good deed unfold in right under my nose.  That’s pretty rare these days.

Walking past the bus station on my plod into the office, I had to wait at the crossing while a couple of coaches pulled out onto the main road. Seconds later, I was amused to see a girl with a small suitcase dart across the pavement in front of me and into the road where a National Express coach was held up at a red light.  She ran to the coach door and began tapping earnestly at it, waving her ticket at the driver.

Evidently, she had missed the coach by mere seconds and was desperate to get on – something vaguely akin to Keanu Reeves’ antics in the film Speed.  OK – that’s a slight exaggeration.

The coach driver was having none of it, though.  Letting passengers on and off of buses away from designated stops seems to be a big no-no these days. Apparently their liability insurance won’t cover them when their drivers irresponsibly let passengers jump out on the road only to suffer immediate injuries (or worse!) seconds later when they get squished by another vehicle. Funny that. Claims for injuries caused by accidents on the road seem to be fairly prevalent, I gather. Ahem.

This driver, however, was strangely charitable – as well as being safety-conscious. After gesticulating wildly back at her (which resulted in her peering bewilderedly back at him, mouth open and brow furrowed), the lights turned green and the driver then pulled back into the station to pick her up.

“What a kind-hearted chap”, I thought, before noting rather more cynically that the girl’s short skirt and shapely figure probably didn’t work against her in this instance. ;-)

I wonder if she submitted her experience to the Metro’s good deed feed.  I’ll have to check in the morning.