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Old 10-10-2011, 11:19 AM
 
Location: Inland Levy County, FL
8,806 posts, read 6,092,783 times
Reputation: 2949

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I'm not completely sure what the REAL story is since everyone has their own account, but here are some links and I'll let you all decide:

Rider says TriMet bus driver bounced mom and crying baby | OregonLive.com

Story of baby that was kicked off TriMet bus goes viral, but some support driver's actions (poll) | OregonLive.com

Crying Baby Gets Mom Kicked Off Public Bus - Parenting.com

Basically, the baby is crying and the mother is unable to quiet the child. It seems she was doing everything possible to try to soothe the baby. The bus driver apparently could not handle the crying and told the mother over the loudspeaker that she needed to stop the baby from screaming. Obviously that is easier said than done, and the driver then pulled over and said something to the mother and the mother got off the bus with the child. The passengers also all disembarked. One reportedly told the bus driver that it was wrong to kick the mother and child off the bus and the bus driver's response was that that person could also get off the bus if he/she didn't like it. Complaints were filed and the bus driver is on paid leave (probably a union thing).

If I were the mother, I would sue. As a new mother, I know babies can get quite frustrating when they don't stop crying, but it's not like the woman had any control over this since she was trying her hardest to get the baby to stop. But a baby crying for a little while should not be that much of a disturbance to a bus driver, perhaps the driver should not even have that job to begin with if she has a low tolerance for noise. It was probably hugely embarrassing to the mother to not be able to comfort her baby in public. It makes a mother feel horrible when she can't soothe her baby so the added embarrassment of the bus driver yelling at her over the loudspeaker and subsequently coming to talk to her (whether or not she actually kicked them off the bus is up for debate) could have actually done some psychological damage. Then she was stuck at wherever she was let off the bus to try to get home in the dark with the baby, and if something had happened, that opens up the bus system for liability.

I think the bus driver should be fired for being intolerant, insensitive and for not taking appropriate action to ensure the bus kept moving (to take the other passengers into consideration). It says in the article that she called in for a supervisor but was denied. However, one should not need a supervisor for this situation to begin with, but even if she was totally flipping out and could not keep her wits about her, she should have insisted on a replacement driver meeting her at a later stop to switch. Besides, how long are people even on buses? 45 minutes tops? Sure, a crying baby is not a pleasant sound to hear but the other passengers even stated that the baby was not that loud, so how could it be that it disturbed the driver so much that she had to refuse to move the bus and/or kick the woman/baby off?

When you take into consideration that these buses are subsidized with taxpayer money, it is even more maddening that something like this could happen and then the driver would remain on the payroll. If the mother does sue, the local taxpayers are paying for that kind of behavior from the driver.

Thoughts?
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Old 10-10-2011, 11:22 AM
 
Location: Del Rio, TN
39,809 posts, read 26,403,608 times
Reputation: 25705
Good for the bus driver. There is no reason every other passenger or the driver should have to put up with a screaming kid. Put her off...when she gets the kid quieted down she can take the next bus. Why is it an issue?
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Old 10-10-2011, 11:26 AM
 
Location: southern california
61,289 posts, read 87,253,323 times
Reputation: 55556
restaurants and public transport can, in extreme cases, ask to remove the child ,if they become hysterical and highly disruptive. whether that was the case or just a little bit of infant fussing, which we of course should overlook, is utterly subjective.
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Old 10-10-2011, 11:26 AM
 
Location: Inland Levy County, FL
8,806 posts, read 6,092,783 times
Reputation: 2949
Quote:
Originally Posted by Toyman at Jewel Lake View Post
Good for the bus driver. There is no reason every other passenger or the driver should have to put up with a screaming kid. Put her off...when she gets the kid quieted down she can take the next bus. Why is it an issue?
But putting up with bad adult behavior is acceptable?

The issue is that she is claiming a safety hazard, which is a crock, not that it was disturbing others...which it apparently WASN'T anyway.
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Old 10-10-2011, 11:26 AM
 
3,504 posts, read 3,914,493 times
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i agree with toyman. i dont want to hear that screaming.
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Old 10-10-2011, 11:29 AM
 
Location: Inland Levy County, FL
8,806 posts, read 6,092,783 times
Reputation: 2949
Quote:
Originally Posted by Huckleberry3911948 View Post
restaurants and public transport can, in extreme cases, ask to remove the child ,if they become hysterical and highly disruptive. whether that was the case or just a little bit of infant fussing, which we of course should overlook, is utterly subjective.
I agree with you.

For this instance, though, newborn crying is relatively quiet. It's not like a 2 y/o kid throwing a tantrum while the mom looks the other way.
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Old 10-10-2011, 11:30 AM
 
Location: Inland Levy County, FL
8,806 posts, read 6,092,783 times
Reputation: 2949
Quote:
Originally Posted by tropolis View Post
i agree with toyman. i dont want to hear that screaming.
It wasn't screaming. Please read the links.
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Old 10-10-2011, 11:32 AM
 
Location: Del Rio, TN
39,809 posts, read 26,403,608 times
Reputation: 25705
Quote:
Originally Posted by andrea3821 View Post
But putting up with bad adult behavior is acceptable?

The issue is that she is claiming a safety hazard, which is a crock, not that it was disturbing others...which it apparently WASN'T anyway.
Was "bad adult behavior" part of the OP? I agree, out of control teens/20somethings dropping the F-bomb every other word need to be booted too.

As far as safety...carrying on a phone conversation is regarded as too big a distraction in many areas and is banned while driving. Listening to a screaming kid is a far bigger one, and a legitimate safety concern for the driver.
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Old 10-10-2011, 11:38 AM
 
Location: Inland Levy County, FL
8,806 posts, read 6,092,783 times
Reputation: 2949
Quote:
Originally Posted by Toyman at Jewel Lake View Post

As far as safety...carrying on a phone conversation is regarded as too big a distraction in many areas and is banned while driving. Listening to a screaming kid is a far bigger one, and a legitimate safety concern for the driver.
I completely disagree. The passengers are saying it was not bothersome, how is it that the driver was so distracted by it? Yes, talking on a cell phone is distracting but so is carrying on a conversation in the car with someone else, which if I'm not mistaken, was also going on on that bus. The bus was full. It was probably pretty loud on the bus, actually. To say the baby crying was the most distracting thing going on is disingenuous.
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Old 10-10-2011, 11:41 AM
 
Location: Del Rio, TN
39,809 posts, read 26,403,608 times
Reputation: 25705
Quote:
Originally Posted by andrea3821 View Post
I completely disagree. The passengers are saying it was not bothersome, how is it that the driver was so distracted by it? Yes, talking on a cell phone is distracting but so is carrying on a conversation in the car with someone else, which if I'm not mistaken, was also going on on that bus. The bus was full. It was probably pretty loud on the bus, actually. To say the baby crying was the most distracting thing going on is disingenuous.

Without being on the bus, it's open to interpretation just how loud the kid was. Was he just "fussing", or screaming at the top of his lungs? Assuming the bus was full, if the baby wasn't screaming, how would the driver even know it was there? A screaming kid cuts through all other noise in a crowded resturatant, I would imagine that it does on a bus as well.
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