BUS DRIVERS, AMBOS NEED OUR RESPECT
What is happening to our society when people whose job it is to help us must fear for their safety at work?
FIRST it was paramedics, now it’s bus drivers.
Ambos and public transport workers alike have been far too frequent victims of physical attacks from angry “customers’’ and as such, both groups have become the subject of governmentsponsored anti-violence campaigns.
Whether ambulance or bus, if only they really could become a vehicle for change – a driving force for some human decency, if you will.
It is beyond sad that we apparently need advertisements to tell us not to abuse people just going about their jobs, whether that be chauffeuring us about the city or actually saving our lives.
Yet clearly these campaigns are a tragic necessity.
On the Gold Coast alone, bus drivers say they are being hit and spat on every week and it has become so bad on some local routes that private security companies have been hired to follow in case of violence.
There have been calls for protective barriers following a number of attacks on bus drivers in recent months, including a driver who was attacked outside of his bus at Pacific Pines and another robbed at Harbour Town while behind the wheel.
Meanwhile, in April this year it was reported that the number of assaults on Gold Coast paramedics had spiked 50 per cent.
The figures showed three paramedics were being abused every month as they went to the aid of the injured and sick.
From July last year through to the end of March, 25 paramedics were deliberately bashed, up from 19 for the same period the previous year.
In fact, paramedics are now trained in de-escalation tactics, as well as some self defence to get them out of danger and to safety.
There is no doubt alcohol and drugs are fuelling many of these attacks. Tony Armstrong, the Acting Assistant Commissioner for Queensland Ambulance Service Gold Coast, said substance abuse was normally the catalyst for assaults.
“(Violent scenarios) are mainly a mixture of a bad person, intoxication or under the influence of drugs,” he said.
Similarly, a spokesman for Surfside Buslines said the company was committed to reviewing and implementing more physical safety measures due to the increased dangers.
“Criminal behaviour on buses is reflective of anti-social behaviour across the community and we work with relevant authorities including TransLink and QPS to address these issues,” the spokesman said.
How did we get to a point that we need to implement safety programs, physical barriers, teach self-defence and run major campaigns just to keep employees safe in their workplace?
What is wrong with us? Yes, alcohol and drugs are a major problem – possibly more so than in previous generations, but I’m not sure these are solely to blame.
Where once common courtesy, kindness and respect were the backbone upon which our society was built, they have become brittle from disuse.
Instead we exercise the muscle of anger, using its energy to propel us forward at the expense of others. The vitriol spruiked on social media is seeping into the real world.
I have seen it in even the most mundane of situations – an older woman frustrated at the long wait at the pedestrian crossing, who began punching the button and swearing in anger; customers who snap at checkout chicks (and checkout
blokes) because they do not want to buy a bag.
We have all had bad days and we have all had those moments when we lose it (just ask my children).
“But I just don’t understand why people waste so much energy on being mad and mean, when it is so much easier to be nice and polite.
Well, it is for me anyway.
As the saying goes, holding on to anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.
Even if that worked, do you really want to kill the pedestrian crossing button? Let alone the poor checkout chick?
As for our ambos and bus drivers, we can only hope these extra measures and campaigns will promote change. But if you really want to make a difference, don’t just preach kindness, practise it.
And if you see someone else stepping out of line, kindly remind them to, well, be kind.
Like that other saying goes, the standard you walk past is the standard you accept.
So let’s stop driving our standards off the road.