To non-Metro Transit regulars, a bus driver stopping his bus to publicly club a fake seal seems a little odd.
And it is, even by public transportation standards. But non-bus riders just can’t understand the crazy world these bus drivers live in.
Every Metro Transit regular has their stories. Once I had to catch a 90-year-old man in my arms to keep him from falling (not as romantic as it sounds). Faulty brakes once caused my bus to roll towards oncoming traffic. One time a guy threatened to throw coffee at a bus driver’s face (much more romantic than it sounds).
And then there are the crazy characters, like the guy who is always loudly ranting about how he hates Nova Scotia. (Guy, if you’re reading this, please just move to Alberta already as you keep threatening.)
It’s a jungle in there. A packed, less than punctual jungle. And consider the actual scary stuff. Bus drivers are sometimes assaulted and have rocks thrown at them.
On last New Year’s Eve, masked men hopped on one bus and unleashed pepper spray over people.
Can we really blame a driver for carrying around a baton, or that the baton just happened to be the perfect seal clubbing length?
Yes, it was a stupid move. But the guy didn’t fly off the handle into a mammal-bludgeoning rage. He did it for a laugh.
Witnesses said the driver joked about the act before and afterwards. Global News caught the whole thing on camera and he clearly wasn’t angry.
Did he really do anything that bad? Sure, some of the seal hunt protesters want him charged, but no reasonable person thinks he broke any laws. And if anything that fake seal was false advertising. The sign in front of it said “Hug me, don’t club me.”
Seals are aggressive and would gnaw your face off if you tried to hug them. If it comes down to the seal, or me I’m siding with Mr. Bus Driver.
Drivers have to put up with insanity most of us could never dream of without hallucinogenics. Really, who are we to judge?
So let’s cut this guy a little slack and stop calling for him to be fired. If nothing else, we should be thankful to him for pulling a stunt so hilarious it gave us all something to talk about this week other than the economy.
– Paul McLeod is a staff reporter at Metro Halifax. He is currently in rehab for being a political junkie. It’s going badly.
