Always the last to know

Perhaps not unreasonably, there is an expectation from members of the public that, if you wear the uniform, you must know everything. Unfortunately, I was totally ill-equipped to fulfil the role of "Know-er of All Things".

Regrettably there was another fatality on our patch this evening just as the peak was subsiding. Whenever such things happen it takes time to get things up and running again, particualarly if there are no diversionary routes, as was the case tonight. Predictably, this didn't cause us any problems until our last run when we were due to take a slow train from Stratford down to Stansted Airport, being relieved by another driver at Bishops Stortford. This should have been a nice little run without any incident but, starting from Stratford, we had obviously been overlooked. By the time we had got to Tottenham Hale our train was being announced as going only as far as Bishops Stortford. First we'd heard of it...!! I had to shout down the platform at the station staff to get this confirmed.

So, that was where we were going and it would be up to our relief to worry about what happened after that. We made the necessary announcements and off we went. Eventually we arrive at what we still believe is our destination and open the doors only for a group of passengers with suitcases to get on. Funny, thinks I. It didn't take long for the questions to start. "'Scuse me, mate. This is going to the Airport, isn't it?", Is it? "It's just that we were told it was". Oh, well if you say so.

Such problems are evidently not restricted to the frontline staff either. Even though the office are aware of my progress, they hadn't twigged that I would complete my required hours by the end of this week. When I mentioned this to them they went into a flap. The result is that I start my final assessment next week, although it might not be until the week after that I complete it due to other demands on the Assessor's time.