YOU CAN’T SEE A SMILE BEHIND A MASK
Annie Brown boards the No75 bus on first day face coverings become compulsory on public transport
JIMMY Lillis is looking forward to the day he drives a busy bus because it will mean the pandemic is all but over.
The 66-year-old has been a driver for 40 years and never imagined seeing so many empty seats and passengers compelled to cover their faces.
Face coverings became compulsory on public transport yesterday as Scotland continues to ease its way out of lockdown and Jimmy, like all essential workers, has welcomed the extra barrier to coronavirus.
He said: “It is safer and that’s a great thing. It is sad but it’s necessary. You can’t see a smile behind a mask.”
Jimmy is friendly, with an easy charm, and misses all the regulars who shared his morning route from Castlemilk in Glasgow to workplaces in the city centre.
He hopes the slowing of the virus, the easing of lockdown and extra measures like masks will see the familiar faces return.
Many of his regulars were shop workers he would drop off at the St Enoch Centre but who are no longer working.
The hours of his day used to pass easily with their chats and updates on their lives.
He said: “We would talk every day and I got to know about them and their work and families. I miss that. I did get to know them pretty well. I am looking forward to a day when I see them again and things improve. A busy bus will mean life is normal again.” Jimmy drives for First Bus, which covers Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Livingston, Stirling, Falkirk and Alloa. Passenger demand on average is down by roughly 85 per cent across its Scottish operations since lockdown began, although it is beginning to creep up. In Glasgow alone, in the week prior to lockdown, there were over 600,000 passenger journeys made across its services, in comparison to 100,000 in the first week of lockdown. Jimmy doesn’t need to wear a mask as he drives his bus from a sealed cab, with disinfectant on hand and passengers using contactless payments. He has been given a snood, which he wears if he has to help passengers using wheelchairs. The bus is limited to only 18 passengers and if it is at capacity, an electronic message is sent to the depot and a duplicate bus comes for excess passengers.
I got on a bus yesterday for the first time since lockdown and it felt odd to be sat alone, staying two metres from other passengers.
Fellow passengers seem faceless now and less inclined to the banter shared when people are forced to squeeze together.
The expressions which give a momentary insight into a person are indiscernible behind masks.
Patricia Matthews, 57, and her daughter Abby were heading in to the city centre from the stop outside Hampden stadium to pick up an item ordered from Marks & Spencer.
Patricia, a lollipop lady, used to get the bus daily but has only been on one a couple of times since lockdown and always wore a mask anyway, as did Abby.
Patricia said: “I am glad everyone has to
wear one now because it does make the bus feel safer. I was a bit nervous at first but people do keep their distance and it’s all well organised. I wouldn’t use the bus regularly though, until things are back to normal.”
Shirley Garvey, 57, headed in to town by bus to get to the bank and knew she had to wear a mask. She said: “It does make me feel safer but I will also be strict about sanitiser and washing my hands.
“The buses are pretty quiet and people are spaced out, so it’s not too bad.”
And it’s not just buses which are affected – the number of rail use in Scotland is down by 90 per cent.
At Glasgow Central Station, passengers were being stopped at the entrance and told they would have to cover their face.
On offer was hand sanitiser and a box of disposable masks, which many had to use since they had forgotten their own.
Nurse Elaine Abrahams, 36, said: “It is handy they are handing them out, although
I hate wearing them, because I do feel I end up touching my face more than I normally would. I am more concerned about keeping a distance, hand-washing and sanitiser – but of course I will wear a mask too.”
Elaine has been travelling by train three days a week from Wishaw in Lanarkshire to work for a nursing agency in Glasgow.
She said: “I really notice how clean the trains are now. They smell fresh and everything is spotless, which I have been reassured by.”
Jean Dominguez, 71, was in the station to buy an advance ticket to London and was wearing a mask for the task but she is dreading the prospect of a five-hour trip with her face covered.
She said: “They feel hard to breathe behind and that is going to be pretty suffocating and unpleasant but I suppose it is all about keeping us safe, so there is no choice.”