So after 4 peaceful days in Italy, I come back to a late duty on this nightmare route. Roadworks, annoying slow colleagues, holding back numerous times, suicidal pedestrians, selfish & idiotic Uber/taxi drivers, annoying cyclists, late meal relief, hardly any stand time, pond life passengers. To top it off @ 2050 at Trafalgar Square I'm looking at time I'm supposed to depart Waterloo in 9 mins anyway these two last-minute.com passengers ring the bell as I'm ontop of the stop approaching the red lights. I stop and let them off, there is no one else at the bus stop at this point. All of a sudden there is this woman putting her foot in the rear doors as they are closing to get on. The following ensues
Me - you shouldn't do that, you could have injured your foot. You should have just come and knocked on the front doors.
Cockroach - I don't care, just drive.
Me - well if you had injured yourself you wouldn't want me to just drive and you would care then wouldn't you. As what you did was stupid.
Lights have changed green I start to move off.
Cockroach - you calling me stupid, what's the registration, I am going to report you. Takes phone out and tries to take picture of me and really trying to provoke a big argument. Next set of red lights before national Gallery.
Me - you know what, I don't want you on the bus anymore can you get off at the next stop please, I will give you a transfer ticket.
Cockroach - I'm not getting off!!
Me - rings controller, get to the next stop controller rings back. I explain what's going on, I'm already late as I'm due out of Waterloo in 4 minutes. Controller says terminate the bus and do a code red. At this moment she is trying to stop every passer by to tell them I called her stupid yet failed to explain a) was her actions I called stupid and b) she failed to explain her actions.
There is another lady at the stop wanting to go to Waterloo and I was trying to explain to her that I have just been told by the controller to end here as I am already late and I have a disruptive passenger.
Cockroach - he's lying he's lying, controller didn't tell him to stop the bus. Then took her phone out again and started filming me, why did you call me stupid?
Me - since you want what I said for the record and since you suffer from memory loss, here it is.
At the last bus stop Trafalgar Square, I was closing the rear doors on the bus, you ran stuck your right foot in the doors to stop them closing. You then boarded and came to the front to tap your oyster. I said to you, you shouldn't do that you could have injured your foot. You should have come to the front doors and knocked on the doors. To which you replied, "I don't care" just drive". I replied well you "would care" if you had injured your foot and you wouldn't have wanted me to "just drive" and I said because what you did was stupid! To which you then started arguing that I called you stupid. Proceeded to take your phone out and started recording me as you are doing now and taking the registration of the bus. I told you I didn't want you on the bus anymore and that you should get off at this stop and I would give you a transfer ticket. You refused to get off the bus and I called my controller and told him what was happening and he told me to terminate the bus and call for police assistance.
There was one other guy on the bus who told everyone at the bus stop exactly what happened and that this woman is creating problems as she shouldn't have done what she did and instead of saying sorry, she was being rude then creating an argument. So I told her I didn't want her on the bus anymore as she was causing me stress and distracting me from driving.
Finally the other lady at the stop understood what was going on and Now the controller was calling me again over the radio so I went back on the bus to answer the radio then she steps on the bus again. Stating she's not going anywhere call the police so I did a code red and as soon as I asked for police assistance she decides to run off the bus and onto the 176 that pulled up behind. I then notified NMCC that she had now left the bus and also my controller. I don't understand people like this, like why come out of your cave to make trouble. All this because I have her advice for her own safety.
The trip back to Golders Green I spent holding back 7 times.