A bus captain has plenty to do – like taking care of their buses and making sure they are in good repair, ensuring each passenger pays the correct fare, and providing a safe and pleasant journey for them.
But one bus captain went out of his way to do something more for his passengers on Thursday – he took the initiative to shelter them from the heavy rain with an umbrella as they were alighting and boarding at the bus stop in front of the PSB Science Park building.
His act did not go unnoticed, with one commuter praising him on the HardwareZone Forum.
“Heart-warming to see bus captain getting down to shelter passenger from the heavy rain at every stop. He had (gone) beyond his core duties. Thumbs up!” wrote user Acewind, who did not reveal the bus service number, or the bus captain’s name.
“Wrote to SMRT to compliment his actions too!” he added. He also said in a subsequent comment that the bus captain also got himself drenched in the process while doing his best to keep his passengers dry.
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The bus captain’s actions drew more praises initially. One user suggested cheekily that he should be promoted to a “bus general”.
However, there were comments suggesting that the bus captain’s actions actually caused inconvenience to other passengers as it delayed their ride.
“Why do extra… Then now I have to wait longer for him to get back to his seat… Journey extended by 15 minutes on a raining day,” user poppy_py wrote.
Another user, Harri83, added: “If you’re the one waiting in the bus stop ahead, how will you feel? Nowadays bus company no need follow the schedule and interval anymore?”
But some users quickly jumped to the bus captain’s defence, pointing out that anyone taking the public transport should be prepared for delays.
User SingaporeSoftwareZone made a good point: “This is a good example for everyone, not just for bus captains. In fact, it’s better if passengers take the initiative to do it. Can help to speed things up a little.”
In an unrelated incident that happened two days earlier, another bus captain who drove the SBS bus service number 87 was criticised by a netizen in a Facebook post.
The netizen had complained about how the bus captain drove at a slow speed despite there being little traffic, and stopped at every bus stop even though no one was boarding or alighting. He even took a photo of her, possibly in an attempt to humiliate her.
“I don’t know is it because she has too much time to waste on the road… Even if I’m not rushing for time I still have better things to do den wasting extra 15 minutes sitting in your bus,” he wrote.
However, netizens quickly pointed out that the bus captain wasn’t wrong in doing so, as she needed to adhere to a schedule.
A netizen by the name of Xavier Hon Choon Ong even brought up a excellent point: “Unless we are driving the bus we will not know why the driver did that.
“Sometimes it’s hard being the driver. Next time if you encounter (such a situation) again, go talk to the driver (instead).
A timely reminder that we should always be appreciative of bus captains. And not just them, but those who are in the service line, too.