Rite and Ritual - Part 2

I padded myself

Daily, at the start of the shift duty; I padded myself to keep me sane and centered.

I will use my right hand, cross it over to my left chest, to pad my “heart” in the process. While doing that, I mentally, reminded myself to be mindful that, I have a mission to fulfill for today. That is “Moving People, Enhancing Lives”. This vision statement by the Company, has been an excellent motivator that, keep me going on till to date. This is a magic pill to cure all my heartaches related to the different types of passengers on board the bus.

My Pair of Gloves

My pair of white glove serves three main purposes.

To date, I have used some 50pairs of white gloves. Initially, some senior colleagues teased me and started calling name. They call me, “traffic policeman” or “Mr. White Glove Man”.

I know the reason why I am wearing it and spending my hard earned money to replace it from time to time. It is S$2.20/pair of white hand glove. My real initial motive was for safety. Back then, I am just a white belt into driving a 12M Bus; one of the most dreaded responsibility is to take the bus from a 4th-lane-outer-left, cut it over all the way to the outer 1^st-right-lane in order to make a right turn as the next coming cross or T-junction.

As a novice public bus driver, for me, this is a very challenging and at times scarce the hell out of me, to do this quick lane change.

However, with the white glove “on” and couple with the long red sleeve shirt, that I am wearing; vehicles at the back of me can easily spot me and read my intention when I showed them my right hand; to cut those lanes from 4-3-2-1. In this way, overall safety is assured for all.

The next point is for mental conditioning and hygiene; at the start of the shift before I touched the steering wheel, I put on this white glove; my driving confidence will spontaneously level-up with a sudden rush of adrenaline; this hormone, been secreted by the pituitary gland, pours into my blood system and I am ready for the day of bus driving business.

Hygiene factor is the third consideration. The standard operation is that Bus Captains are expected to share buses with all other colleagues. Initially, while still in the training phase, I was not allowed to wear glove; and when I accidentally touched my eyes with my finger; I use to have red eyes quite frequently.

Nowadays, a pair of white glove is indeed my good companion.