Tales of the unemployed volume six
Following nicely on from volume one - www.b3ta.com/questions/unemployed/post398736 (or, perhaps preceeding it even - you'll see why) comes the tale of...

'I'm not travelling on a fucking bus to work man'.

Before I'd seen Darren, I had the misfortune to be asked to carry out a new claim interview earlier that morning. The bloke was in the office, and he was fucking huge. He made the Incredible Hulk look like a 6 stone weakling and probably would have pissed all over him in a fight. I beckoned him to my desk, asked him to take a seat, and went through the general eligibility spiel that I had recited so many times before.

He'd been working as a labourer on a local building site, and had walked off the job for some suitably vague reason. When I informed him that his claim would need to go to an adjudicator and could well be closed down because of this voluntary jacking in of work, he wasn't best pleased.

"I'm not saying it will be suspended, just letting you know that this is the procedure. You'll be asked for some more information, they'll speak to your employer and make a decision from there".

"Like fuck they will", was the somewhat terse response. I could feel the interview slipping away from me at that point, and my own will sapping somewhat.

OK, jobsearch time. "I see you've been working as a labourer, are you still looking for something in that line".

"Aye, it's all I've done".

"We don't get many vacancies advertised in here for that sort of work, it's usually word of mouth stuff; going down to sites, that sort of thing. However, we just had a vacancy placed this morning, £300 a week".

"Where"?

"Morpeth".

"MORPETH??? That's fucking miles away, do you expect me to go all the way to fucking Morpeth? I'd never see me bairns, man".

"It's not that far, only 16 miles. Besides, I have to tell you about the vacancy otherwise I'd not be doing my job".

"Aye, but Morpeth? Do you really expect me to travel outside of Alnwick for work"?

"Well, lots of people do..."

"Bet you fucking wouldn't".

"Actually, I live in Morpeth and travel here every day".

"Bet you've got a car though".

"Well, yes, but as it happens I got the bus in today. The service from Alnwick is quite good you know".

"Travel to fucking work on a fucking bus? You're not fucking living in the real world mate".

And so on.

Suffice to say, he walked out at the end of the interview, I referred his claim, and surprise surprise, he had actually been sacked from his job for calling his gaffer a cunt or something. Instant 6 month suspension of benefit for gross misconduct, and the labouring job under discussion went to a far better cause at the end of the day.

What a collosal twat.
( Davros' Granddad a voice of calm reason in a world of spastics., Mon 6 Apr 2009, 19:27, 12 replies)

A collosal twat indeed...
and a great post indeed also...
( SpankyHanky, Mon 6 Apr 2009, 19:44, closed)

That said
He did somehow manage to walk into another job about four weeks after I interviewed him. Possibly the benefit suspension gave him a kick up the arse.
( Davros' Granddad a voice of calm reason in a world of spastics., Mon 6 Apr 2009, 20:00, closed)

In fairness
I wouldn't go to work on a bus.

I was not sent to this world to travel on public fucking transport.
( Mrs Entity is in hiding., Mon 6 Apr 2009, 20:11, closed)

I wish I had the option to take public transport.
When it's ten below 0 (F) and snowing like crazy, I would love to grab a train or subway and not worry about driving.
(MichaelS wasn't picked again, Mon 6 Apr 2009, 20:15, closed)

and people like you are why it will never change
people describe public transport disparagingly and say it's rubbish but here's the scoop - it's rubbish because not enough people use it; if more people use it it will get better. simple as. and to be honest i dont think it's that bad as it is. especially not after seeing and experiencing public transport in other parts of the world.

my opinions on this are simple - within cities personally owned cars should be banned with exceptions for members of the emergency services, and public transport should be increased to cope with the new demand. or, failing that, at least ban a) petrol / diesel cars in cities (what's the point, you never need to go more than say 40mph, you can use an electric car for that or get on your bike damn it) and b) people using their car by themself when it's built for 5 ... what a waste!

sorry to bang on a bit, but comments like the one you made above incense me.

EDIT - that's directed at mrs livesinabin in case there's any confusion.
(zenmeban thinks the weather could be better, Tue 7 Apr 2009, 8:49, closed)

The why the fuck does the cost of public transport increase each year by higher than the rate of inflation?
My rail ticket costs me £345 a month. Not only that but I'm about to get fisted big time as my train company wants to put in a fast service which will cost more and wants to incentivise people to fork out more money.

Four hour a day commute it is then.

Public transport sucks long time.
(Bicycle Repairman "you're also a bit of a wanker", Tue 7 Apr 2009, 12:59, closed)

One of the first things Ken Livingstone did
as Mayor of Lunnun was to halve London Transport fares - which very near doubled passengers carried. Anyone know another politician take a gamble like that?
( Larry Vest One day at a time, sweet Jesus, FFS., Tue 7 Apr 2009, 13:24, closed)

People thinking they are too good for public transport
infuriates me.
I admit the service could be better, and the majority of the clientelle leave a little to be desired.
But what could be more interesting than listening to 15 year olds discussing how many fingers they have managed to fit inside a particular ladies particulars?
(TheColonel, Mon 6 Apr 2009, 20:28, closed)

I love getting the bus!
It picks me up and drops off less than a minutes walk outside home and work, at exactly the right times (my work hours are fiddled for this).

It's cheaper than using a car, and makes my car cheaper to run and insure.

Best benefit - 40 minutes of sleep before and after work, leaving me fresh for late night movie watching.
(Potty Jag har smör i min rumpspringa, Mon 6 Apr 2009, 21:42, closed)

Another fan of public transport
Perhaps because I grew up in London in the days before the system got hopelessly overloaded and had a long commute to school, I've always enjoyed using public transport.

So much so that I've never got round to taking a driving lesson and I'm in my mid-40s now.

Apparently a friend of the wife's who is emigrating at the end of the year is going to give us her car, so looks like I will have to finally get round to it.

Probably not a bad idea since we live a few miles outside Oxford (albeit with a decent bus service into town right outside our door), but still, it will be sad to leave my non-driving status behind...
(Capo, Tue 7 Apr 2009, 9:28, closed)

I like public transport too
Admittedly I don't have to take it every day. On the days when I'm in work early I use the park and ride system in town - it's excellent.

And I love catching the train to go into London - again probably because I'm not doing it every day. The opportunity to sit and read a book instead of drive myself is wonderful.
( chickenlady b3ta's very own Elizabeth Taylor, Tue 7 Apr 2009, 10:44, closed)

Yep
When I worked in Newcastle my offices were just round the corner from the station. For four blissful years I got the train into work rather than worrying about traffic jams and parking charges.

Now I have to drive and I'd rather not.
( Davros' Granddad a voice of calm reason in a world of spastics., Tue 7 Apr 2009, 11:14, closed)