How Rude!!

The German public transportation system is typically very good, in my opinion. You can get to pretty much an destination using the bus and train system, they are usually very efficient, and they're extremely easy to use. Prior to moving to Germany, I would never have considered using buses (especially not after my one Spring Break adventure on Greyhound! :)) and trains as a mode of transportation... Now, I can't imagine not using them to get from point A to point B! My how things have changed! :)

Since we moved here 2 1/2 years ago, I've never had a complaint about the German public transportation system... That is, until just the other day... That's when my opinion slightly changed!

My friend, Denise, and I went over to visit our friend Anna... We had plans for a "Girl's Night In" of sorts... You know, eating junk food, watching a "chick flick", and enjoying some girl talk! :) Being that we didn't want to drive there and worry about finding parking spaces and whatnot, we opted to take the bus. The ride there was pretty uneventful... A very typical bus ride in Germany! :)

We arrived at Anna's house and proceeded to have a very fun evening just chatting away and enjoying each other's company. Now, the last bus of the night was scheduled to leave from the bus stop up the road at 10:45... Being that it took only 5 minutes to walk there, Denise and I decided to leave 10 minutes ahead of schedule so that we would give ourselves more than enough time to get there. We said our goodbyes to Anna, and proceeded to head out... We made it to the end of Anna's street, turned left, and started walking up to the bus stop... As we were walking, we noticed a bus heading towards us... We quickly realized it was the bus we needed to take to get home! It seemed rather odd considering we still had 7 more minutes before the bus was scheduled to arrive... We picked up our pace a little bit at that point in time... And, when we realized that it didn't look like the bus was slowing down, we proceeded to jump up and down on the sidewalk, yelling and waving to get the bus driver's attention (I'm sure we looked like quite a pair as we were jumping around like maniacs on a sidewalk at 10:30 at night! :)).

As the bus came closer, we just knew that he would see us trying to get it's attention, slow down and pick us up... Especially considering that it was too early... At that point we still had 5 minutes to get to the stop! Did the driver end up doing that, you ask... Nope!! The driver proceeded to look at us as he drove right on by!! Yep, not only was he the last bus of the night... But, he came through EARLY and then refused to pick us up, when it was quite obvious that we were trying to catch that bus... Seriously!! Who does that?!

But, then to top it off and make matters worse... After he passed us, he began to slow down for the "Yield" sign at the end of the street... Denise and I then thought that perhaps he was slowing down and waiting for us... So, we turned around and ran as fast as we could towards the bus... Only to have him pull away as we approached!! What a complete jerk!! Needless to say, at that point in time, Denise and I were completely speechless. All we could do was stare at each other completely stunned! :) I mean, who would do such a mean thing?? He literally came through the stop too early, drove past us knowing that we were trying to get him to stop for us, and left us stranded... Nice!!

So, when all was said and done, we had to go back to Anna's house and explain our situation... And, thankfully she and her boyfriend, Trond, were sweet enough to drive Denise and I home that evening. :)

Even though we had a good end to the evening and we were able to get home safe and sound, I'm still completely annoyed at that bus driver! As is Denise, who is determined to write a scathing letter to the transportation authorities... Go, Denise! :) In the meantime, since my German is not quite up to par to write a scathing letter, my plan is to completely boycott the German busses! That'll show them!! (Granted, it is for only 5 1/2 more months until we move back to the U.S.! But, still... :)) From here on out, I'm sticking to the trains! :)