The Hareidim vs. Egged

Seems the Hareidim are continuing their campaign against the Egged bus company based on religious sensibilities and economics.

This wall poster complains about the cost of the intra-city ride:

and this one also refers to the "interference" of Egged of the "kosher" transport network that is being set up in competition:

I Transgressed

This is one of those few non-political and personal posts that slip in every once in a while.

Today, I was returning from Jerusalem (we have to put in hours on the eve of a festival when it falls on a day other than Friday). I had three bags from the shuq and at the entrance to the Egged Bus Station, I had to put them down to undergo the pre-entrance security check which meant removing my mobile phone and digital camera from my belt.

That done, I then stepped inside to place the bags on the conveyor belt for the x-ray check. I waited for the woman in front of me to finish and as I began to lift up my bags, someone zips in from the left, cuts in front and drops a little bag on the belt.

This has happened before and if I see the person coming, I sometimes manage to cut him/her off but I wasn't that fast today. But, I was peeved enough to grab his bag, - it was smallish and not that heavy - place my bags on and then place his back on. He, of course, had already proceeded and was waiting when I stepped up, reached in in front of him to get my bags while he, nonplussed, was trying to figure out what happened.

I enjoyed quite much the look on his face even if he managed to get his one bag first while I struggled with my three.

But, for me, it was worth it.

That was such a nice transgression.

And You Thought Egged Bus Drivers Are Bad

Police say the driver of a bus filled with about 40 former prison inmates abandoned the vehicle Thursday along a highway because her working hours for the day were over...They were aboard a Greyhound charter headed to a bus terminal in Dallas, but wound up 60 miles short.

"In 31 years in law enforcement I've never seen anything like this," Corsicana Police Sgt. Lamoin Lawhon told the Corsicana Daily Sun.

Police said the bus was chartered from Greyhound Bus Lines Inc. The driver pulled over in front of a convenience store around 4 p.m. and told the passengers her allotted driving time was up and another driver was on the way. A clerk in the convenience store called police. Officers arrived to find the former prisoners milling around the bus.

Police said dispatchers exchanged several phone calls with Greyhound officials and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in Austin.

Lawhon and two other officers stayed with the bus and the parolees. Just before 7 p.m., a second bus arrived with three drivers - including the one who had abandoned her passengers in the first place, Lawhon said.