Dylan Winter gets on board with a bunch of double-decker bus fanatics!
"It鈥檚 a disease," says Mick who is married to Wendy. They met on a bus. He was the driver and she was his clippie. Wendy accepts with equanimity she is her husband's second great love; the bus gets prime position, "Ever since we met, he鈥檚 been involved with buses - we used to spend Sunday afternoons driving up to the London Garages collecting bus numbers - he has to have his fix."
Vicky鈥檚 a more reluctant passenger on the double-decker bus of life, "I鈥檓 not one of those devoted bus people - I鈥檝e lived with them for 30 years!" Vicky's married to Malcolm, who explains his fascination with to Dylan, "You feel very satisfied when you鈥檝e been out. There鈥檚 apprehension beforehand - are you going to get to where you want to go to. After, there鈥檚 a certain amount of elation - it can be quite hard work if you鈥檝e been any distance... you can quite exhausted if you鈥檝e been any distance." "Shattered, satisfied, exhausted?" Dylan queries. "Yes," says Malcolm, "It reminds me of something else!"
But one couple, Pam and Dave think they should both be in the driving seat, "The whole buzz of it is is there鈥檚 a tremendous camaraderie between bus owners. At a bus rally, everyone gets together on one bus to have tea or champagne," says Dave. "Your missus gets off on driving buses doesn鈥檛 she?" says Dylan. "That鈥檚 right! She drives. I do all the hard work and she does all the pleasure bits..."
Pam waxes lyrical, "It鈥檚 like a drug. You get into a cab of a bus, and it鈥檚 completely different from driving a car. You鈥檙e concentrating so much on your driving, that when you get out of a cab your mind is a complete blank. It鈥檚 as good as a fix. I鈥檝 never had a drug, but it鈥檚 what I imagine it to be. I get out of the cab on a high. I can get into the cab with the worrries of the world on my shoulder, I get out of the cab and I鈥檓 nice to everyone."
