Jobsworth ?

I've just travelled in to work on the tram and an elderly lady got on with her walking stick and shopping bag. The tram inspecter asked to see her pass which, because it must have been some sort of senior citizen type pass, was not valid until after 9:30. The inspector told the lady that she would have to pay or get off, so the old lady got off.

Was the inspector right to ask the old lady to get off even though she had a pass ? (obviously there are time restrictions on it). Or should she have shown some compassion and a bit of common sense and turned a blind eye ? If it's the latter where do you stop turning a blind eye ?

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Comments

  • OAP trying it on as usual..... I can't queue in tesco cos I can't stand that long....
  • It does sound a bit harsh but then it must have been very very early given that your post is at 7.50. She must have known she wasn't allowed to travel at that time. 

    I think if had been nine o'clock or something she might have been allowed to get away with it. 

  • Harsh yes but it does my head in when old folk only have to wait until the working population go to work.  They then have all day to be slow and pace themselves.

    supermarket shopping in the evening is getting worse, why are they there?  Bored or just a jolly to wind up the working folk? 

    don't start me on mobility scooters, seen too many folk run over by them!

  • Is it any different from Osborne travelling first class when he didn't have the ticket.



    I don't think it's a jobs worth situation. The guy is doing what he's paid to do.
  • agree with cougie..........ifit was a teenager trying the same with a students card.would you feel the same way

  • if it was 9:20 then yes, but at 7:50am no, hes doing his job.

  • She should have been impaled on her walking stick and left at the bus stop as an example to others not to try it on, bloody twirlies  ..................

     

    ................... slightly biased ex bus driver  image

  • They are not allowed out before 9, at 12 hurded into a corner until 2, let out again and at 5 sent home. 

    As for weekends............ 

    when i am old i will surely be out at all the wrong times!

     

     

  • WilkieWilkie ✭✭✭
    Cheshercat wrote (see)

    Harsh yes but it does my head in when old folk only have to wait until the working population go to work.  They then have all day to be slow and pace themselves.

    supermarket shopping in the evening is getting worse, why are they there?  Bored or just a jolly to wind up the working folk? 

    don't start me on mobility scooters, seen too many folk run over by them!

    I wonder why so many very elderly people go to my local supermarket on Saturdays.  If I had all week to go, I'd choose a less busy day.

    On the OP's question: No, I don't think the inspector was being a jobsworth.   You'd think people who COULD travel after the rush is over would do so!

     

  • i'm no fan of pensioners clogging up the works, but if unless it was a packed train I think the guard could have been a bit lenient. Maybe he was worried about someone else checking her ticket and then he'd be in the sh!t, but what harm is one old lady on the train going to do? I'm not saying anyone is entitled to a free ride just because they're elderly or whatever, but a little perspective is always refreshing. I find it frustrating when people hide behind rules.

  • Tom.Tom. ✭✭✭
    I'd be lost with out my senior citizens bus pass. Without it I'd have to run everywhere.
  • Tom.Tom. ✭✭✭
    "i'm no fan of pensioners clogging up the works"...what would you suggest, Euthanasia?
  • The supermarket thing is true and baffling.

    When I was off work for 6 months I'd be in there at 10.30am - there were very few of them around then.

    I suppose I can understand it if they are waiting for markdowns at the end of the day but it doesn't seem like that as far as I can see.

  • Fresh bread tastes nice.  Milk runs out.  Old people shopping on a weekend isn't really that bizarre is it?

  • Most people in the supermarket are a nightmare, especially WOMEN! They dilly dally over buying things, have to look at everything then buy the first thing they saw. I go in, know what I want, buy it march out! I can do a weeks shopping in 10 minutes easy.

    Jobsworth's... call me cynical but people change their tune to suit themselves, one day honest john, next day back hander.

  • WilkieWilkie ✭✭✭
    PhilPub wrote (see)

    Fresh bread tastes nice.  Milk runs out.  Old people shopping on a weekend isn't really that bizarre is it?

    Those that I see every weekend aren't just getting a pint of milk and a fresh loaf - they're filling their trolleys.

    If I could go on a quiet weekday afternoon, rather than on a heaving Saturday, I certainly would.  Why put yourself through it if you don't have to?  

    I had last Friday off, so went then instead - it was much quieter and there was more choice of fruit and veg.

  • RicFRicF ✭✭✭

    Some old bods just can't break the habits of a lifetime. Even my own parents were still fighting the hoards on Saturday morning ten years after they retired.

    I suggested maybe a quieter day. My elder brother just called them a pair of geriatric c**ts.!

    I assumed he still had unresolved issues.

    🙂

  • Tom.Tom. ✭✭✭
    "If I could go on a quiet weekday afternoon, rather than on a heaving Saturday, I certainly would" - I'd recommend between 3:15 and 3:45pm (post school run) especially if you fancy clogged up carparks, harrassed housewives, screaming kids and blocked up isles.
  • old people should be shot at birth

  • Tom. wrote (see)
    "i'm no fan of pensioners clogging up the works"...what would you suggest, Euthanasia?

    No, bit harsh. Some sort of curfew during peak hours and an ankle bracelet to ensure they stick to it.

  • Seem to have gone off topic a bit here.

    In response to the origional question - should I be allowed to travel one stop outside  zone 5 on my five zone travel card occasionally?

  • Not a jobsworth and clearly she wasn't too distressed or in a rush or she would have stayed/paid/put up an arguement.~
    Ref supermarket shopping at busy times: Company? How many families are scattered to the four corners these days and how many OAP's have little/no contact? (Ex retailer: Grocery trade: Sympathetic) We'll all be there sooner than we think. Let's build the world we want when it's our turnimage

  • lardarse wrote (see)

    Most people in the supermarket are a nightmare, especially WOMEN! They dilly dally over buying things, have to look at everything then buy the first thing they saw. I go in, know what I want, buy it march out! I can do a weeks shopping in 10 minutes easy.

    Jobsworth's... call me cynical but people change their tune to suit themselves, one day honest john, next day back hander.

     

    Actually, if we must bring gender into it, the worst people in the supermarket are men who have been sent to do the shopping but are completely clueless, so they're on their mobile phones asking which brand of baked beans to buy because they can't figure it out for themselves.

    Lou Diamonds wrote (see)

    Seem to have gone off topic a bit here.

    In response to the origional question - should I be allowed to travel one stop outside  zone 5 on my five zone travel card occasionally?

     

    No. People doing that sort of thing are one of the reasons we all have to pay over the top for our fares.

  • I am only qualified to push the shopping trolly and the wife spends the whole time looking for me. 

     

  • You sound like my OH Chershercat. I'll say. "Wait there, I'm just going to get X".

    And does he wait? No, he wanders off down another aisle and I have to try and find him image

  • Have any of you thought that a lot of those oldies doing their shopping on the weekends are there because either they have a) job in the week as their pensions aren't enough nowadays..................or b).they look after their grandchildren in the week and know what a nightmare it would be to take them to the shops so wait until the lovely darlings are back with mummy and daddy.....

    and if they pay their taxes and pay their shopping bills then they should be4 able to go when ever they damn like...........they are not secondclass citizens just because they are old..

    but to the original point.just because they are old can they avoid paying the correct fare for the journey at that time

  • given the value of pensions nowadays the poor cow was probably going to work image

  • WilkieWilkie ✭✭✭

    Seren, I wasn't suggesting that elderly people shouldn't go shopping at the weekend, just saying that if I had the choice and could go whenever I wanted, I would pick the quietest time, rather than the busiest.

    I thought that the free bus passes were meant for those who were retired and not working, and that's why they are only valid after the morning rush hour.  If you are still working, you should pay the fare.

  • Wrong. Free bus passes are meant for people who are old enough to claim the state pension. People who claim the state pension can still work if they want to. A lot of people do full-time or part time work to keep their income up.

  • Who said they were 2nd class citizens because they are old?

    +1 Wilkie.  If I had the choice, old or not, I wouldn't choose the busy weekend to shop if I could avoid it!

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