I think the bus driver thing came up in a casual class discussion during pastoral. I think the teacher thought I was trying to facetious but I stuck to my guns, despite being mocked, stating that I didn't really care whether or not others thought it was menial.

A careers advisor came to talk to us prior to work experience. I think I put down Town Planning, Route Planning and Journalism as my placement options. What actually materialised was a week-long IT course at a YTS Training Centre in Elswick where there was computer which had a Desktop Publishing programme installed. Needless to say, it was a waste of time. There were two other pupils from my school on the same placement, the first day consisted of a two-hour induction after which we could go home. I think I got to use the DTP on the second day messing around with clip-art. The rest of the week we were left to our own devices and for the rest of the duration we basically went in, signed the register, then went into town for the rest of the day. Amazingly, all three of us got exemplary reports from our placement. I think it was because, unlike the others who were there, we didn't threaten any of the staff or cause any damage.

Re: the bus driving comments. In 2001, I had what I still deem to be my dream job planning delivery vehicle routes for a large distribution company based on the Portobello Trading Estate. It wasn't particularly well paid but it was a job which I found easy and enjoyed greatly. In my department there were only two of us: my supervisor and I. My supervisor was really laid back and easy going so I basically spent most of my time studying maps. About six months into the job, the branch manager took ill. He was eventually replaced by the transport manager and his job was filled by supervisor effectively putting me in charge of my own department. Somebody was recruited to assist me and life went on as normal. However, despite taking on most of the responsibility, I was never awarded the title or the pay increment that went with it. I brought it up with the branch manager (who had since been replaced by someone else after the former transport manager retired) and he basically said 'tough luck'. It was then when I decided to look to see what other jobs were around. I saw an advertisement in the Chronicle for an Assistant Traffic Controller at Van Hee Transport (since closed) in which the salary was almost double what I was being paid at the time. I applied for the position and got the job. However, the job was not what I was expecting. I thought I would be doing something similar to what what I was doing previously, planning routes and what not, but I was basically the office flunky. I was miserable in my new position, my lack of enthusiasm showed and within three months I was relieved of my duties.

In my previous job I had job satisfaction despite my relatively low rate of pay. I went for something which I perceived to be better and learned a bitter lesson because of it. Still, to this very day, I regret my decision to leave that job and often wonder 'what if'. Perhaps the drivers you see driving the same buses everyday have a similar sense of job satisfaction. Of course, you are right, their loyalty probably wont be rewarded or even recognised. But there is something to be said about having a job which is relatively easy and enjoyable. That's probably why they are doing it.