Theodore Dalrymple

Global Warning | 22 November 2008

The other day, the 9.56 bus to the nearest train station was late and the people at the stop — of whom I was by far the youngest — began to grumble a little. Then, looming out of the mist, appeared the driver.

issue 22 November 2008

The other day, the 9.56 bus to the nearest train station was late and the people at the stop — of whom I was by far the youngest — began to grumble a little. Then, looming out of the mist, appeared the driver.

The other day, the 9.56 bus to the nearest train station was late and the people at the stop — of whom I was by far the youngest — began to grumble a little. Then, looming out of the mist, appeared the driver.

‘I’m sorry, the brakes have failed,’ he said. ‘I’m not prepared to risk your lives and they won’t be repaired until the next bus.’

The next bus — they are all decrepit round here, resuscitated from scrap heaps — was in an hour’s time. Words such as ‘typical’, ‘Third World’, ‘incompetence’ and ‘economic crisis’ ran angrily through my mind.

‘Thanks very much for letting us know,’ said the old ladies at the stop with genuine gratitude at his concern for their lives, and then they went off happily in search of a cup of tea.

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