Politeness 101: On the bus

English people are said to always be polite. I can confirm this with several observations. Let's begin with the first episode of a long series. “Politeness 101: On the bus”

It starts with the signs. They don't unpersonally say “Dienstfahrt” or commandingly “Don't Enter” like German Rail does – no, it is “Sorry – Not In Service”. Watch the order: first the apology, then a friendly “Not In Service”. And if the display at the side of the bus is too small for two lines, they alternate “Sorry” and “Not In Service”. This much of politeness needs to be, even if the bus seems to go to “000 Sorry” every couple of seconds.

Bus drivers are not only generally, but even almost without exception, friendly. My impression from Germany is that it's the other way round there. Here, they have different bus companies and they don't accept each other's tickets. As it happens, I entered a bus with the wrong ticket. The bus driver pointed this out to me (His sentence started with “Sorry”, of course) and I silently chuntering (I still can't deny my heritage) searched my wallet for coins and put the exact demanded fare (70p) on his till. But instead of taking the money with the same silent chunter (thinkig “Stupid foreigner/tourist/...”), he looked into his rear mirror and told me to take the bus that was just pulling up behind us, because my ticket was valid there. Thus, totally baffled, I took my saved money back and changed to the other bus.

But the politeness exists on the other side as well. Here, buses have only one door and thus you have to pass the driver on your way out. The English like to queue anyways, so why waste space for a second door? And guess what an English person does when they finally reache the door and can get off. They thank the bus driver! And they all do it, including the spoilt youth and drunk students. They even interrupt their conversation, even if it is on the phone, for that. So I took to turning my head to the right (left-side driving!) and calling – depending on my predecessors in the line, you want a little variation at least – a short “Thanks”, “Thank you”, “Ta” or “Cheers”. Often you get a “See you”, “Bye” or “Alright” back and find yourself happy and content on the street, all because of this short conversation with a bus driver you regard as a human being.

This enthusiasm is, of course, quickly brought down to a normal level quite often because you find yourself in the rain, but on average, going by bus is much more fun here.