Strange people on the bus

Whispered

Hi, I regularly get the 151 from grange castle. There is an older man who gets in just before the clondalkin junction. I have noticed him before, he talks to himself, prays and grunts, he flexes his fingers and taps himself in the mouth a lot. he stretches his legs out across the aisle so you have to step over him and allows his hand to fall over the side of the seat "accidently" brushing off people. He also seems to take an unhealthy interest in whats out the window, especially when passing certain areas or buildings (which I will not elaborate on as I dont want to be throwing serious accusations around).

This morning he got on the bus and sat on a seat to himself, and moved after a few minutes to sit beside a woman, who after 5 mins got up to get away from him (as he practically sat on her) and he shouted "OH you want to get up do you" she had to push past him!!!

Then I was standing to get off at my stop and he ran up behind me (he's a large man!!) pushed me out of the way (ouch!) and demanded to be let off the bus. The driver let him, he got off and took a p!$$ on the side of the road.

Anyone know of him? Or with any similar experiences?

bazzer

You should outline your concerns in writing as soon as possible to Dublin Bus. This chap is clearly causing a nuisance, which is against the bus bye-laws. If enough complaints are made, then the company can, in conjunction with the gardai, actually make an order banning him from travelling on the company's vehicles.

Dublin Bus can easily identify him by monitoring the CCTV footage from the relevant buses.

Wishbone Ash

bazzer wrote: »

You should outline your concerns in writing as soon as possible to Dublin Bus. This chap is clearly causing a nuisance, which is against the bus bye-laws. If enough complaints are made, then the company can, in conjunction with the gardai, actually make an order banning him from travelling on the company's vehicles.

Dublin Bus can easily identify him by monitoring the CCTV footage from the relevant buses.

In my experience, most of these type of passengers are usually long term patients who have been discharged from institutional psychiatric care and into community facilities. This community care may not be entirely suitable for their needs. They may also be people with an intellectual disability. In these circumstances, I'd say the Gardai would be reluctant to get involved.

Whispered

Ok, so I'm going to sound like an absolute b!tch her but I was (and a lot of other people on the bus were) pretty nervous of this man. He was a very large man, I am a 5 foot tall 23 year old girl and he pushed me out of his way. I understand that there may not be the facilities there for people like this but if they are dangerous or menacing they should not be allowed out without a chaperone in my opinion.

I was at a cinema once and there was a group of 5 patients with 1 carer, the group consisted of 3 women and two men. One of the women needed to go to the toilet and the carer left the other four. As soon as she had left the started throwing things, it started with popcorn and esclated to trying to pull up the seats!! These were grown men!! It was very frightening and there is no excuse as far as I am concerned. There should have been adequate care. Anyway that was off topic, but I have had a couple of incidents like this involving patients who, very obviously should not be allowed out alone.

Another bus incident happened on the 77 where a man was carrying a bag which had wires sticking out from it, he opened it slightly and there was a large piece of broken mirror in it too. (It was a plastic bag so easy to see what was in it.) he was speaking in a put on "exorcist" voice and saying "only 3 more stops till my stop, then................ITS TIME" he said this at every stop counting down. Needless to say half the bus were terrified. This sort of thing should not happen!

Wishbone Ash

helena.ryan wrote: »

I understand that there may not be the facilities there for people like this but if they are dangerous or menacing they should not be allowed out without a chaperone in my opinion.

The difficulty may be that his carers (if applicable) may not be aware of his behaviour when 'independent' especially if it's not brought to their attention. I understand the difficulties of finding out that information.

As soon as she had left the started throwing things, it started with popcorn and esclated to trying to pull up the seats!! These were grown men!!

Grown men perhaps, but they may have had an intellectual disability. They should have had more staff.

he was speaking in a put on "exorcist" voice and saying "only 3 more stops till my stop, then................ITS TIME" he said this at every stop counting down

I'd be more worried about the quiet ones!

Whispered

Sorry Ash, my comment about them being grown men meant to include the fact they had a intellectual disability but I was on a bit of a rant and didn't include it. What I mean is that while they may have the mental ability of a child, they are NOT children, a fully grown man could do a lot of damage. There should have been more carers with them. It wasn't fair on the woman with them. She wasn't asked to leave though. If you went to the cinema with five 9 year olds who were doing what this group was doing you would be made leave.

Ash are you a carer? What do you do when put in a difficult situation with a patient. For example, on the 76 once a man got on the bus behind me, there were not many people on the bus and I sat down. He sat on me! there were seats everywhere!! But I wouldn't move for him, I thought, if he is well enough to be out alone, he is well enough to know that you cannot do this, so I told him to get off me. He didn't, so I shouted at him to get off me, and he did. But I felt a bit guilty then.

A man on the 50 also talks to himself and each morning it was getting more and more voilent until one morning the driver had no choice but to pull in and call the police. After this he had a chaperone with him every morning but it was very frightening.

Perhaps I am not very understanding, but as you can see I have had a few bad experiences and I feel very uncomfortable about being in an enclosed space (ie a bus) with people like that. This morning was the fist time I have been physically hurt though.

I would also be a bit doubtful in labling them all as psychiatric patients, I thinks some are just strange epeople!!

meanmachine3

first and foremost anything out of the ordinary happens anywhere in the city on a bus tell the driver. most people get the same bus into work most days .i.e. a 6.15 from clare hall or the 6.50 from lucan so you see the same driver for a couple of days. if there is a messer using the same route word gets around pretty quick and the drivers know who to watch out for.
the guards remove disruptive passengers but a driver can refuse a passenger entry onto a bus if he/she feels the passenger will be a nuisance to either themselves or other passengers.most of us will follow things up if brought to our attention.
always remember we cant act on something if we dont know about it.

OTK

Maybe we could do with a little more compasion and understanding towards people with mental impairments. How would you like to be treated if you or a family member suffered from dementia or brain damage? Maybe ridicule isn't the best response. Most of our lives at work or at home we are separated from people who are worse off or different from us. A bus is one place where you might come across somebody with weaker mental or physical function than you. How you treat them probably says a lot about you.

Whispered

OH I would never ridicule, I am talking about when people become voilent, I didn't bring up illness at all. When it was brought up I pointed out the lack of carers. Thats all. Sorry if I caused any offence, it was most definately not intended.

corktina

im with you Helena...A situation like that would cause me concern and I'm 18 stone and very hard to knock down. The original guy you talk about certainly shouldnt be there especially if the buildings you refer to are schools or similar... this sort of thing and louts and drunks etc are what puts people off Public Transport and need to be fully addressed by those in Authority ....

paulm17781

helena.ryan wrote: »

OH I would never ridicule, I am talking about when people become voilent, I didn't bring up illness at all. When it was brought up I pointed out the lack of carers. Thats all. Sorry if I caused any offence, it was most definately not intended.

Hi Helena, I've had a similar experience in London. A very large man (I'm 5'10 and 12 stone) sat beside me on a train and started talking to me about nothing, at some points he got very aggressive. I am good at dealing with situations like that but this guys reasons to get aggressive made no sense, he was not sane and I am not ridiculing him, I was terrified. How do you reason with someone who can not reason with themselves? In the end I got off the train at my destination unharmed but it was still terrifying.

My point to this is I would take the advice of others and report him to DB or other authorities, while the man is obviously not right, you should not have to feel threatened and perhaps the man needs more constant care. While your injuries from him are minor, next time someone could be harmed, what if someone is holding a baby when he pushes them or shoves a small child, that could lead to more serious injuries. It is probably best for him - and yes, others - that this is reported.

Whispered

I know what you are saying but if the man is sick I would not feel right about reporting him. It's obviously not really his fault. I'm not sure what to do. He has been getting on this bus for as long as I have now (which is since the route started) so I assume the drivers are already aware of him.

crapmanjoe

Some people are just plain nuts or weird

Yesterday while waiting for the bus some women came over to me talking about the loaf of bread I had just bought and the different types of crust - and i was wearing ear phones at the time :eek:

then i got a call on my fone and she kept talking to me, eventually had to walk away

I can be as polite as the nxt person but after a days work I only have so much patience!

Whispered

Well now in fairness there are a lot of intersting types of crusts out there

tbh

I was on a bus going past St. Michaels in DL, when the woman sitting opposite, totally out of the blue said something to me. I pulled out my headphones and said "what?" She said "I said I hate hospitals.....I thought they killed my father".


oooookkkkkkkkkkaaayyy.


I felt sorry for her tbh.

DWCommuter

If the people causing a nuisance are suffering from some form of intellectual disability, it must still be reported. It is in the best interests of the persons involved, the complainant and other passengers. It is the responsibility of DB to deal with the complaint and do so in a manner that is compassionate, fair and understanding.

I know its a pain in the ass Hellena and you don't know whether to laugh, cry or scream. We all just want to get where we're going. If the guy you refer to is genuinely disabled, please complain. Don't be afraid or feel guilty about it. The onus is on the operator to deal with the matter and he needs to be prevented from continuing with this behaviour for his own sake as much as anything else.

On a lighter note, Ive had some tremendous conversations with Downs Syndrome people on public transport and once got a smack in the head from a DART scumbag when going to the defense of a young Downs girl. On that occasion it was obvious to me who had the intellectual disability.