Bus fares

Some of the drivers for a particular bus company in Beautiful Scottish City that I Miss (when I'm not here) are well known for their less than cheerful dispositions, especially towards students who get to use the bus for a cheaper fare. Most regular bus travellers try to avoid this by using the other companies, whose drivers are on the whole much nicer people, and whose fares are reasonable without student discount (they are, in fact, the reason why the other company has to have cheap fares for students, otherwise all students would use the cheaper, friendlier buses). Unfortunately, outside semester time, the other companies don't run, so I had to take my chances. Some of the drivers aren't interested in making like difficult or causing delay for passengers and just give the student fare to everyone between town and university regardless of whether you could produce a valid student card when asked. If they do this, I don't tell them my student card is out of date. Despite the fact that my PhD was technically not 'finished' in being submitted but not examined, as of the end of October, the university no longer counted me as a student. If I have to make major revisions to the thesis, they will re-register me. This is one of the quirks of the PhD system, and is also indicative of the strange limbo position of submitted but not examined PhD students.

On Friday morning, I wasn't in the mood to argue with bus drivers. VIVA day. Drivers will be nice to me or my frazzled nerves will make me cry on their bus. Yes, cry. And nobody wants that. So I got on and asked for a single to the uni (I don't deliberately pretend I have a valid card, and will pay full if that's what they ask for, albeit reluctantly - it's much more than it needs to be). One of the friendly drivers - for which I was grateful - says 75p please. Student fare.

On the way back, it's a different driver. I say, 'single into town, please'. He looks at me. I look at him. He continues to look at me expectantly and I wait to be told how much he is going to charge me. After a while he draws a student card shaped object in the air. I say I don't have a card, and he says then you'll have to pay full fare - that's £1.50 please. This has gone up significantly since I was last here, but I hand it over cheerfully. £1.50. I don't mind, because now I am not a student any more.

I'm a Dr.