I brought most of the presents whilst and Derby and a few little bits for myself, then I decided to get the Red Arrow to Derby early afternoon. The traffic seemed ok. I just caught site of a Facebook post that there had been a major accident on the M1 and was trying to find out more about it. The coach goes over the M1 using the brigde of the A52 and when I looked over, the traffic heading northbound was at a standstill and there was nothing heading southbound. I found out that they had closed a part of the motorway to carry out an investigation, but I didn't think much of it as it wasn't affecting my route. I got into Nottingham pretty quick actually. I had so many big bags to carry it was unbelievable. I ended up buying myself more things in Nottingham too, some new trainers - perfect for the new year!
I picked up a few other bits and decided it was time to start heading home not long after 4pm. I did go to Broadmarsh Bus Station first to see if the 21 was due as that takes me to my doorstep, but there was a 45 minute wait so I took the free bus to Victoria Centre instead to catch my only other option, The Two.
It was very busy when I arrived. There were queues of people waiting for different buses. I had never seen it so busy before. I decided that it wasn't even worth trying to que up because I couldn't even tell apart where one line end and another line started so I sat to the side patiently and started browsing through a Doctor Who book I picked up whilst I was in Derby earlier. Whilst reading, I was listening to the people queuing grow ever more impatient. Some people had already been waiting at least half an hour or more at this point. I distinctly remember one woman constantly going on about how this had completely ruined her day and this angered me. I remembered the duel incident of earlier that day and I knew this was the after effect of it all that yes, had inconvenienced a lot of people, ourselves included but the thing to remember is that regardless of the story two people died that day. One murder and one suicide.
When the bus finally arrived Trent Barton were fantastic. They knew there was nothing they could really do to make the bus magically fly back to Ilkeston. Our driver shrugged his shoulders and the female customer service rep that was on the bus with him announced to everyone that they don't need to worry about paying and just ordered us to get on the bus. Two buses arrived near enough together, both easily an hour or so late so the heavy que of people was divided quite well despite both buses being full.
Getting out of the city centre was the easiest part and seemed quite promising, but when we passed the bus stop U4 on the very edge of upper parliament street we all saw more huge queues of people like I had never seen before. I had never seen that bus stop so busy, the que was starting to trail around the corner of Maid Marian Way. When we hit Canning Circus that's when things got really slow and sluggish again, from just turning off onto Ilkeston Road down to the next 50m took us about 20 minutes. Traffic was at a standstill. Gridlocked. There were cars trying to filter out of the side roads and we couldn't use the bus lane yet because there either wasn't one or there were cars parked. To get from Victoria Centre to the cross-section at Radford Boulevard took us at least 40 minutes and then some one decided to block the bus lane. This happened twice and the second time our drive lost it. He beeped him. The car driver didn't move. Our driver stopped the bus and got out, knocked on his window and told them to shift up and merge so there was enough room for the bus not to block the crossroads. Everyone cheered him, welcoming him back like a hero. It was quite an amazing moment.
Our journey started to get a little easier from this point since we could now use the bus lane. We drove past half a miles worth of traffic within minutes. The ride did still seem to last forever though, it was nice to hear people chat to each other and keep each other company. I didn't join in so much apart from laugh at the odd funny situation but, I had my iPod set up to keep me entertained. I set myself up quite tactically. I know I was going to need a lot of room and that there was no chance I was going to get two seats to myself so I hugged onto a luggage hold and dumped all my bags in there, shopping and rucksack too. The only problem I probably caused for others was my refusal to move down when our driver told us to, I just wasn't going to leave all my stuff there. I don't know how people do it.
In the end our bus ride took well over an hour and a half. I didn't time it to be honest so it could have been closer to two hours, definitely if you include the waiting times. I will certainly remember this bus ride, not because of how long or stressful it was. Or even how bad it was or the uncomfortableness. I don't understand the full story of what happened still with all of the different news reports, but I feel like I experienced a part of the pain the murderer must have felt when he felt the need to end his life by jumping off the motorway bridge with the way it it affected us all. All those people stuck on the motorway. No one should feel like they need to commit suicide, ever regardless of what they have done or even what they want to do. It was all I could think about during my journey back home, that and reminding myself of how thankful I am for where I'm at now. The guilt and the heartbreak. Two people died that day, neither of which was me. That is a reason enough to still be alive. I still made it home.
My thoughts go out to the families of those affected at this festive time of the year.
It was very busy when I arrived. There were queues of people waiting for different buses. I had never seen it so busy before. I decided that it wasn't even worth trying to que up because I couldn't even tell apart where one line end and another line started so I sat to the side patiently and started browsing through a Doctor Who book I picked up whilst I was in Derby earlier. Whilst reading, I was listening to the people queuing grow ever more impatient. Some people had already been waiting at least half an hour or more at this point. I distinctly remember one woman constantly going on about how this had completely ruined her day and this angered me. I remembered the duel incident of earlier that day and I knew this was the after effect of it all that yes, had inconvenienced a lot of people, ourselves included but the thing to remember is that regardless of the story two people died that day. One murder and one suicide.
When the bus finally arrived Trent Barton were fantastic. They knew there was nothing they could really do to make the bus magically fly back to Ilkeston. Our driver shrugged his shoulders and the female customer service rep that was on the bus with him announced to everyone that they don't need to worry about paying and just ordered us to get on the bus. Two buses arrived near enough together, both easily an hour or so late so the heavy que of people was divided quite well despite both buses being full.
Getting out of the city centre was the easiest part and seemed quite promising, but when we passed the bus stop U4 on the very edge of upper parliament street we all saw more huge queues of people like I had never seen before. I had never seen that bus stop so busy, the que was starting to trail around the corner of Maid Marian Way. When we hit Canning Circus that's when things got really slow and sluggish again, from just turning off onto Ilkeston Road down to the next 50m took us about 20 minutes. Traffic was at a standstill. Gridlocked. There were cars trying to filter out of the side roads and we couldn't use the bus lane yet because there either wasn't one or there were cars parked. To get from Victoria Centre to the cross-section at Radford Boulevard took us at least 40 minutes and then some one decided to block the bus lane. This happened twice and the second time our drive lost it. He beeped him. The car driver didn't move. Our driver stopped the bus and got out, knocked on his window and told them to shift up and merge so there was enough room for the bus not to block the crossroads. Everyone cheered him, welcoming him back like a hero. It was quite an amazing moment.
Our journey started to get a little easier from this point since we could now use the bus lane. We drove past half a miles worth of traffic within minutes. The ride did still seem to last forever though, it was nice to hear people chat to each other and keep each other company. I didn't join in so much apart from laugh at the odd funny situation but, I had my iPod set up to keep me entertained. I set myself up quite tactically. I know I was going to need a lot of room and that there was no chance I was going to get two seats to myself so I hugged onto a luggage hold and dumped all my bags in there, shopping and rucksack too. The only problem I probably caused for others was my refusal to move down when our driver told us to, I just wasn't going to leave all my stuff there. I don't know how people do it.
In the end our bus ride took well over an hour and a half. I didn't time it to be honest so it could have been closer to two hours, definitely if you include the waiting times. I will certainly remember this bus ride, not because of how long or stressful it was. Or even how bad it was or the uncomfortableness. I don't understand the full story of what happened still with all of the different news reports, but I feel like I experienced a part of the pain the murderer must have felt when he felt the need to end his life by jumping off the motorway bridge with the way it it affected us all. All those people stuck on the motorway. No one should feel like they need to commit suicide, ever regardless of what they have done or even what they want to do. It was all I could think about during my journey back home, that and reminding myself of how thankful I am for where I'm at now. The guilt and the heartbreak. Two people died that day, neither of which was me. That is a reason enough to still be alive. I still made it home.
My thoughts go out to the families of those affected at this festive time of the year.
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