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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/I_SawTheSine on 2024-11-02 04:07:47+00:00.

A few months ago I booked a return ticket to a nearby town over a busy holiday weekend. I wanted to do a little cycling over the weekend so I phoned the bus company before the day of departure to check if I could take a bicycle with me. They confirmed that I could so long as I arrived at the bus station half an hour early.

On the trip down they loaded my bicycle into the baggage hold, even opening up a special side hatch to make it easier to get it in. So I enjoyed a few bike rides while I was down there.

Come the day of my return and it’s belting rain. I get to the bus station half an hour early but sopping wet. Considerate as I am, I purchase some paper towels to wipe down my bike so it won’t dampen anyone else’s luggage.

Then the bus arrives. I go straight over to the baggage loading area and ask the guy if I can put my bike in. He replies, “No.” Do I need to wait? No, he’s just not going to let my bike on. At all.

So I spend a quarter of an hour arguing with the guy, as the clock ticks towards departure time. I tell him the bus company has already confirmed I could bring my bike, but that does not move him. He keeps telling me there’s no space in the hold, even though I can see there’s space in the hold.

Now this is a Sunday and I have work the next day. And it’s the end of a holiday weekend so I might not be able to get a seat on another bus, even if they refund me my money. And nobody’s talking about a refund.

Finally, departure time has arrived. I yell out, “Well, head office said I could take it on the bus, so I’m taking it on the bus.”

And I hoick my bicycle in the air and step up into the passenger section of the bus and start making my way to my seat. Now, my seat was booked for the upper deck, so I also have to hoick my bike up the narrow spiral staircase to the upper deck, which I do.

My bicycle is XL size so, all things considered, I’m astonished how limited and shallow the scratches were that I left on the plastic finishes of the spiral staircase as I went up.

Amazingly, no-one made any move to stop me, and the passengers on the upper deck all came onto my side, helping me to secure the bicycle and making no complaint about having to squeeze past it, even though it almost entirely blocked the corridor.

Every now and then the conductor would come up to check our tickets, see the bicycle blocking the way, and turn away defeated. Every time he did so, I made sure to say loudly to my fellow passengers, “I dunno, to me it would have made more sense to put it in the hold, but it’s their bus, they make the rules.” And the other passengers would agree with me.

The bike and I got home safely.