creep on the bus

[alice1]

Hi - just wondered what you thought about an incident that happened to me on the bus recently. It really upset me but I just did not know how to handle it. Basically i was scared stiff. Sat downstairs and heard some rather abusive stuff coming from behind me. I made the assumption that it was someone listening to some unpleasent rap - no offence. After a while i began to realise that the guy was saying these things to me... stuff like 'im gonna f***ing get you, youre gonna get it, yeah, you know im talking to you, got a f***ing knife.'
Felt really scared and pretended to look at things in my bag as if i hadnt realised. He then moved seats, turned to face me and continued to mutter these things to me. Not knowing what to do, i got off at the nearest stop that had a shop near it, went inside (he didnt get off thankfully) and called my husband to come and get me. He said i should have spoken to the driver or alerted the public but i just froze and am not convinced that anyone would have helped. What do you do at times like that?

[~Wingnut~]

Blimey Alice, you must have been petrified!!!!
Thankfully I have never been in a situation like yours. I think I would have done exactly the same as you and would have got off at the next most sensible stop (busy, shops etc..)
All you can do is assess the situation at the time and unfortunatley you don't get a second to really think about what you can do and can only hope you are doing the right thing.
I would have maybe called your local police just to let them know what happened to you and if they thought they should investigate further.
Thank God your ok :o)

[mrrobbo15]

think you did the right thing....just get out of there.

god knows what could have happened if there had been any confrontation.....maybe you shud call the police and have a chat with them though

bloody nutters about

[devilwoman]

i would have pressed the stop button to get the drivers attention then walked up to driver and complained saying he was a total stranger who was harressing you and making threatening remarks, and the decent thing would be for said driver to throw nutter off bus,, i think you'd be surprised how helpful and supportive members of the public can be, your husband was right you should have alerted someone

[raysparx]

Hi alice,

I think you did the sensible thing, I have allways said to my wife if you feel in the least bit scared at anytime make for people or shops, if you are in the street knock on the nearest door, there are so many of these people about,some of them need care,(care in the community) what a joke that is, Take care, Ray xx

[hammerman]

You did the right thing. But i would've gone to the old bill and bus company afterwards....many busses have CCTV on these days and if they couldn't actually do the offender for anything, at least they might be aware there is a nutter like this around.

[johnlambert]

You did the right thing alice, he would have known by your body language that you were afraid and vulnerable so I imagine thats why he faced you.

I would report it to your local police just in case he does it again and, (god forbid) takes it one step further and hurts someone

[alice1]

I agree with you devilwoman - in an ideal world - but to walk past him and alert the driver would have meant alerting him and i felt determined, at least, not to let him know how scared I was. Also i know that some of the public had heard him and were ignoring the situation. There are a lot of care in the community where i live ray and it seems the hot weather brings out their 'need of care' side.
Interested and pleased that no one suggested weapons!
Thanks again and good luck to your son ray.

[joko]

keep a little pair of in-ear earphones in your bag, just put them on - they don't need to be connected to anything, and also, find a small book, like a mini one and just have it out and pretend to read it

[Scarlett]

This is very similar to the situation I wrote about where I was on a bus and a weird man just STARED at me- turning around in his seat for everyone to see, and kept throwing his arm out as if almost trying to hit me, but not quite. he was clearly not all there- like your chap. I think by travelling on buses, this is an occupational hazzard. YOu did the right thing by getting off and ignoring him. In this situation I probably would have got my phone out and pretended to make a call- or dial 150 and listen to my messages, to blank him out.
The chances of you being on the bus again with this horrible man are slim, and who knows, even if you are that unlucky, he may have a different "head" on next time and just ignore you and everyone else.

It may be worth writing to the bus company to alert them in case he causes trouble again. Write to them with a description and where he travelled to and from so they can look out for him.x

[Katie~77]

Hi Alice. This is very similar to something that happened to me a few years ago. I was cornered on the train to work by someone saying that he'd been looking for me and now that he had found me, I was his. I ran through the train and got off at the next stop. I think "care in the community" has a lot to answer for. Some people, through no fault of their own, can't cope with living in the real world and need help!x

[alice1]

Once again i thank you for your answers. Somehow it just feels better when other people have had similar experiences although im sorry that you have. xx

[electricblue]

Problem is people are too scared these days to step in and help.its only gobby cows like me who's mouth tends to run away with them that tends to say something,you def done the right thing gal!!

[Chappers]

I would like to think that if a lady were in distress that they would call for help and in such a situation I would most gladly offer my services! There will always be cowards who would do nothing but there are many who would gladly put themselves in harms way to defend another human being.

[FrancisB]

Alice,

You did the right thing - getting off the bus was a very wise decision.

I hate to upset you...but your partner's advice of alerting the driver was probably a little mislead...I mean, in these sitauations, the driver doesn't want to get involved - in fact, if you HAD gone to him, he would have probably told you to 'deal with the problem yourself' as it had 'nothing to do with him' or something along those lines.

What a previous person said was correct - these days, a lot of people simply don't want to get involved.

[enigma]

I totally sympathise with you Alice as this happened to me too on a bus very recently. The man in question kept pacing up and down the bus station and at first to be honest , I thought that he was going to kill himself as he was extremely agitated , kept muttering to himself and every time a bus came into the station he raced to the edge of the stance and stood shaking. It drew the attention of security who told him to step back from the edge but he got abusive with them and told them to stop plotting against him and that they tried to get him in a headlock - which obviously they did not. This went on for several minutes until my bus arrived , which he boarded. He sat down behind me and kept muttering to himself things like 'don't be telling me you're from Easterhouse and you're going to do me.(Even though we were in East Kilbride) Don't you be smirking at me because i've got a screwdriver and a knife in my pocket and i'll do you - i'll do you all. ' Everyone froze on the bus and he continued his chants for ages , saying how he would do us all and not to smirk at him. Then a man's mobile rang and as he chatted to his girlfriend the man behind me got even more agitated telling him that he knew that he was planning to get a crowd to 'jump' him when he got off the bus and that he was to put his walkie talkie away or he'd do us all. The driver plainly heard all of this but did nothing. I'm not saying that he should have been a have-a-go-hero but he could have alerted the police to the problem through his radio. He had a duty to protect himself and his passengers. We all sat in silence for the duration of the journey which thankfully was short (for me anyway) and although I would have loved to have said something , I froze. I didn't want to make any sudden movements in case he did have a weapon and I sparked off the need to use it. Scary stuff.

[alice1]

God emigma that sounds awlful. i wish we would all stand together and not tolerate this kind of abuse. if we all knew that people would support us then we'd deal with these issues and sooner or later something would have to be done. It happened to me once before when i'd just had my baby(3 yrs ago) and my husband was ther. Strangely enough he did nothing and did NOT alert the driver either so i find it rather hypocritical of him to tell to do what he was too scared to do himself! Cheers all