I was abused and insulted by schoolkids on the bus

[poppylucky]

It was yesterday afternoon and i decided to take the number 436 from Camberwell to Peckham for a change of shopping experience, well i got more than i bargained for! i Boared the bus with my trolley and as it was around 3.30pm it was full of schoolkids. I asked one of them sitting downstairs if i could have the seat for the disabled as i had a trolley and a swollen ankle.

Well the little blighter turned and said to me 'no chance you old cow' , well i thought to myself charming! i'm in my early 30's but i guess thats old for a 11year old... i said to him that i had a good mind to clip him round his earhole for his abusive language, he retorted back ' try it and i'l have you for GBH you old bag'. Everyone on the bus just looked the other way as if it was normal behaviour. and his fellow schoolkids joined in the abuse. I told him i've never been insulted by a minor in all my life, he just shot back with 'if you don't shutup then i'll insult you even more'!.

I then marched up to the bus conductor and demanded the bus be stopped and the cheeky buggers kicked off for abusive language, i was traumatised by the whole episode. The bus conductor just told me to sit down and live with it and it was normal behaviour by the kids at this time of day!. Well i got off the bus next stop and walked (more like hobbled on my bad ankle) to Peckham and thought to myself that'll be the last time i get on that bus at that time again!.

Has anyone else had such bad altercations with unruly kids on the bus before?

[KalamityKel]

A 436 with an upper deck and a conductor? What year was this? You walked on such a badly swollen ankle from Peckham to Lewisham?

Tut tut

[Keef]

I was thinking the same thing Kel. However, I do try to avoid buses between half 3 and 4, because they are little sh!ts.

[KalamityKel]

You obviously need to learn the "evil eye" business :)) Once perfected you're never bothered! :)-D

[Keef]

I've never had bother, It's just the noise that does my head in. I don't mind volume, but when there are 50 kids all trying to shout to be heard, I just feel like my head will explode.

[KalamityKel]

Headfones... ;-)

[red devil]

Pah!, kids today are lightweights, in my day it was stinkbombs and itching powder, oh how we laughed...

[Tony.London Suburbs]

Hope you get a good catch Pops:))

[KalamityKel]

paper spit balls too

[Tony.London Suburbs]

I had a similar experience when taking the "37" from Peckham to Putney.

Had to take my Grand Piano and Stradivarius on board and do you think anyone gave me a bloomin' seat?

Did they heck as like(!)(6)

'twas a veritable brouhahaha with one cheeky blighter ending up in the Piano itself, I did more than tinkle his ivories, the lil scamp:X

[ratty]

lucky they did not stab you imo, fancy getting on a bus ffs

[SeanMacGabhann]

between 3 and 4 is amazing - the first time I did it I was in shock. Talk about tartrazined up to the eyeballs...

I've witnessed schoolkids take the mickey out of older people before - anyone over 25 is fair game to them - but to be honest they are always nice as pie to me. I think you do need to develop a bit of street smarts to be honest - and I hope you don't think that's me saying it was your fault poppy. But I am surprised you think this is unusual behaviour on London buses. And if they see people who they think can't remember what it was like to be young.....

But have a cup of tea and a chat on here - you'll feel better later.

[annaj]

I've never really been bothered by rudeness or insults form schollkids, but the ones that really make me cringe are the teenage girls. So, confident and sure of themselves, talking slightly too loudly about who's doing what with who, setting the world to rights and all whilst looking super cool in the latest fashion.

I remember being them and it makes me realise how awful I must have been as a teenager. :-$

[Tony.London Suburbs]

poppylucky: I thought I was unlucky!

Having just read this post by you on the Sainsburys thread:

"I had the shock and fright of my life when i went to visit sainsburys last night, i took my trolley from outside and a huge rat lurched towards me, i screamed and fled for my life ...."

and now, in addition, having to endure this most traumatic of experiences, it beggars the question...

Do you really think that you (and your faithful shopping trolley) are right for this neck off the woods(?)

[Jeremy]

Avoid the bus if possible.

Avoid going out at all while the school kids are going home.

Avoid kids in general.

Works for me.

[SteveT]

I wonder what happened to 'respecting your elders and betters'.

It's times like that when a 'tazer' would be useful!

Or a cudgel.

Mace spray?

A pitbull in your shopping trolley called 'Ripper'.

My heart sinks when a bus I am riding on fills with school dross, I cannot get off quick enough.

[Jeremy]

SteveT Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I wonder what happened to 'respecting your elders

> and betters'.

Not sure about the "betters" bit... not sure what makes one person "better" than another.

But respecting elders went out of the window a long time ago. In fact, the situation is now pretty much the opposite in some cases. There are plenty of teenagers willing to challenge adults - for instance the playing-music-on-moblie-phones is a direct challenge to other people on the bus.

[Brendan]

To be honest you only have yourselves to blame for misbehaved children. If you raise them badly they will behave badly. If you degrade the quality of their education with nicey nice, ?Let?s not teach them self reliance and self respect.? liberal balls they will amount to little more than animals.

So there!

[Moos]

Kind of amazed by the responses to this thread. Are we really all shrugging our shoulders and saying Hey, big deal - kids are kids? It's as though the busful of people that sat and watched poppylucky get sworn at are all the people on this thread. Brendan is right - and also if we sit and ignore the kids on the bus misbehaving we might as well be telling them 'Well done, that's exactly how you should be'.

Poppylucky - sorry to hear about your experience. If I'd been there, I'd have joined in on your side.

[Asset]

Me too.

[*Bob*]

I didn't see the incident so I can't comment.

I was on the top deck at the time - sitting with the conductor.

[dulwichmum]

How disheartening and threatening. It makes me worry about getting old in this country. Poor Poppylucky.

I recently witnessed a group of teenage boys waiting for trains at West Dulwich station at this hour, they were all wearing the uniforms of a particular local independant school. Most were squeeling like girls and several of them greeted eachother with a kiss on each cheek when they met and carried paper cups containing coffee/latte etc. I was completely traumatised.

I am worried for the next generation.

[Tony.London Suburbs]

*Bob* Wrote:

I was on the top deck at the time - sitting with the conductor.

Exactement "Robert."

This sounds like a load of old cock, Poppy....Poppycock, in fact...:))

[georgia]

What does, TLS??

[Ted Max]

Correct. The dialogue reads like Hazel Blears trying to write an episode of Grange Hill. The narrative isn't even consistent across the 200 dull words it describes and the details are anachronistic.

If we're going to have fake posters, can they please show a bit of style. (perhaps the rat thing was Poppy's puppet master's only stroke).