Trains, Buses and the Travelling Community!

I used to have a certain degree of admiration for the travelling community. They were like a band of lovable rogues, with their own unique way of life. I was fortunate enough, to be treated to a brief glimpse into the life of a certain traveller gentleman not too long ago.

If I am perfectly honest, his story was just a little more than intriguing, although admittedly, he could have spent a little extra time ironing out the minor details. You see, he was in the unfortunate position of having insufficient funds for the train to Dublin. What’s more, his wife – who was pregnant – was sitting up in the train station. Much to my disappointment, this meant that I was unable to meet the glowing mother to be in person.

Anyway, among the details of his current - and not to mention most unfortunate - circumstances, lay the potential for me to play a small role as a sort of rudimentary saviour, or “Good Samaritan” if you will. The deal was that if I would only be so kind as to provide him with a bridging loan of a mere £10, he would gladly reimburse me upon his return to Belfast that very same evening. Upon realising that I would require reassurances of the return of my loan, he offered to provide me with his mobile number. That way, I could call him after 7pm that same night and arrange to meet him for the return of my money.

I know what you are thinking. Who could possibly refuse a deal like that! Clearly, nobody willing to give up their mobile number as collateral, would ever dream of pulling a fast one with my tenner. As tempted as I was to seal-the-deal right there and then, I did something that could be considered completely out of character, given the gentleman’s circumstances.

Firstly you need to understand that £10 may be insufficient for the gentleman to make his journey. So, I took the opportunity to ask how much he presently had in his finances, which as it turned out was £20.00! As you could only imagine, I was struggling to contain my excitement. I informed him that I had just the solution to his dilemma. If he and his wife – the one that was pregnant – could see their way to the Europa Bus Centre, he would be able to afford two tickets to Dublin, for a mere £19.30. Having found such a great solution to the problem, I was about to head on my way when he decided to just check, that seeing as I no longer needed to loan him £20.00 then perhaps I might part with £2.00 instead. Having no change I had to decline.

I am guessing that he and his wife – the pregnant one – just had to make the journey in the end without refreshments, but I suppose we can’t have it all. You may think that this is the maddest thing, but when you pretty much rely on the bus to get around, you invariably develop the knack of knowing just how much every journey costs.