Babes On The Bus

One of the great things about using the buses in Brighton and Hove is that passengers say “thanks” to the driver when leaving the bus. Doing this in London would probably get you arrested, but it’s one of the things that civilizes life here and underlines the fact that Brighton is not (yet) a suburb of London. (whatever extensions are planned to London Underground, it’s unlikely that the tube will ever head under the North and South Downs to the coast). But back to Brighton buses, where there has been a minor storm after the bus company put a message on its bulletin board headed ‘Speaking to Customers.’ The message read “Please can drivers be aware that some of our customers may take offence at having terms such as ‘love’, ‘darling’ and ‘babe’ directed towards them. “This can be seen by some as being a sexist comment, as a recent complaint has highlighted.” Among the flurry of letters to the local paper, the best was from a punter who said he had no objection to being called “babe.” Signed, A Bloke…