(no subject)

[robbat2]

I wanted to ask the opinion of my friends, about a minor incident, and what everybody would recommend as a course of action.

A while after the fireworks on Wednesday, August 8, my girlfriend (amethest) and I caught a #5 Downtown bus (#V3152) on Denman @ Nelson. We moved to the back of the bus, as there were two seats there, despite hoards of people standing at the very front. After a few stops, the bus driver came to the back and threw out the cigarette of one girl after warning her again, after that the bus driver returned to driving the bus. Other people at the back of the bus continued to toke on their pot, despite an additional warning from the bus driver.

Around 11.55pm, the same girl took out a cigarette, and said she was going to light it. My girlfriend informed her that if she (the girl) lit it, she (my girlfriend) would take it away from her and throw it out of the window. The girl proceeded to light up anyway, and given that my girlfriend had the interests of all law-abiding peoples on the bus, she attempted to take the cigarette away from the smoking girl. My girlfriend was stopped by the girl sitting next to the the smoking girl, and because of the other pot smokers on the adjacent seats pulling my girlfriend backwards, in combination with the lurching bus, my girlfriend was slammed back into her seat. The girl who had tried to light the cigarette continued to fight with my girlfriend, and my girlfriend tried to kick her. I placed myself between my girlfriend and the other girl to protect my girlfriend and attempt to break up the fight.

At the very next stop, the bus driver came to the back of the bus to see what the altercation was about. Despite what all the other elder folk around us on the bus saying that the pot and cigarette smokers were causing the problem, the bus driver ejected my girlfriend and I, along with the two girls from the bus.

From there, because it was a fair distance to my stop for the #151 Coquitlam bus at Granville and Hastings, I made my way quickly, not checking for any injuries sustained during the altercation. When I got to my stop, with a few minutes to spare, I checked myself, and found that I had a cut and bleeding lower lip, in addition to a bleeding nail cuticle.

I think that the bus driver made the wrong move initially, by not ejecting the smoking girl and her friend the first time she was caught smoking. They should have been summarily ejected from the bus at the point. Secondly, the bus driver ignoring the information that all of the elder folk said that the people in the back were smoking pot, even tho he warned them himself after smelling it. Again, I think that he should have ejected them from the bus.

My girlfriend and I have as much of a right to non-polluted, breathable air in confined spaces as the next person. I have no problem with people smoking weed or cigarettes out in the open, or in a private area, but doing it in a confined public area is clearly unacceptable behaviour.

Comments

[allye.livejournal.com]

I don't know what exactly you can do about this situation, because complaining to Translink is not worth the time.

My sister and I both wrote nasty letters, and phoned Translink last year, because between the two of us, we felt if Translink pushes their "safe ride home" slogan, they should back it up, right?

Every year it is the same thing. People smoking whatever they feel like on the buses, and skytrain after the fireworks. Do you know what Translink said to both my sister and I, when we wrote them about last year's problem. Nothing. They sent us both a form letter back, saying "Thanks for riding our service."

So, we went and complained to Skytrain. They, also in turn did nothing, said "We cannot control the amount of people who smoke illegal substances onboard both Skytrain and Seabus." and then went on to say if we didn't like the way they handled the situation about the pot smoking, and the other smoking, to not take transit in so many words. But, especially last year was worse with the transit strike, you think they would have done something to make use riders happy, considering their service was down for so long?

I would say, in a sense your gf did have the right to take matters into her own hands, i'm sorry she got hurt (and if I read this correctly, you got hurt as well) but what can you do, if Translink and their staff won't help, or keep our service "safe ride home" Ack, with the fireworks, I think I would rather catch a cab, if the funds are there, because to me it is SO not worth taking transit home...

Just my two cents!

Another option...

[amethest.livejournal.com]

Get the press on your side. They love poor, fucked over scaraficial lamb kids. I had a problem taking my bike to a biking event a few years ago, and they gave me a whole page and $300 for writing about how riduculous the whole situation was.

You can look it up in the June 2000 issue. Somewhere in June. Anyway, they also asked Sky train, and the answer they got just made them look like burecratic oafs to the public.

And the paper paying me $300 for the article wasn't bad.

Re: Another option...

[allye.livejournal.com]

That sounds like a plan! I would do it... :)

Make them look bad- it should work...