Got my bus pass.....accused of Breathing

Hello there gentle reader.

I want to share with you an event that happened to me and two colleagues (lets call them S  and A) yesterday.

A, S and I went to get our special teachers bus passes today in the lovely Riga suburb of Kiepniekkalns  at the office of Rigas Satiksme. Rigas Satiksme, for those of you unfamilliar with Latvia's capital city, is the cities transport provider, specifically trams, trolleybuses and buses. Because A had to do something important later, we decided to go straight after work and the taxi arrived to whisk us away.
We arrived at the Rigas Satiskme office about 3.40pm and surprise surprise there was a queue. A went in and got the queue numbers while S and I smoked. 279,280 and 281 were our numbers.

When we finished our cigarettes we all went inside to join our fellow customers and keep warm. As soon as we entered a fierce looking woman with pointy spectacles and ginger hair started talking to us in rather loud Latvian. A, the only one of us who spoke Latvian,  suggested that we leave. As soon as we were outside she told us the woman had accused us of  breathing all the air. First time I have ever been acccused of Breathing. Appropriately scolded we stood in the cold air watching S's fingers go white and dodging the Polar bear sized dogs and feral cats being fed bread by passing children. I mean take your children to feed the ducks, but not the cats!

S and I had another cigarette and we watched the red neon of the numbers above each of the desks change numbers. With our eager faces pressed against the glass like children hoping that Santa would fly past the numbers ticked by  275.....276....277..... with our number being 279, I said "she cant ask us to leave again" and in we went.

SHE DID IT AGAIN!!!!!!

So out we went again and started discussing the womans multitude of psychoses and wondering if she got the job as an outreach job from the local loony bin. We eventually waited for my number 279 to come up and hooray I got the other human lady that was working. A and I went in and S was left looking through the steamy glass on the door with the look of an unchosen puppy on her face.

My lady was lovely, Inese was her name. Very helpful and said I was handsome. Poor S got the ginger demon. A was busy translating for both of us running back and forth between desks. I got my card and the security guard who looked really PISSED off ushered me outside in the chilly gloom.

After a few minutes of waiting S and A appeared and they told me what had happened with the nasty lady. When S was getting her picture taken, she was asked to take off her jacket, then her scarf and then apparently the woman siad "Cover yourself up...you are showing too much chest"
Not only was S accused of breathing but also of dressing like a hooker.

We all got our bus passes however, so with satisfaction in our hearts and the blood returning to S's fingers we made our way  home, two hours after leaving school.

In September we have to go back to Rigas Satiksme to prove we are still teachers. Can we go somewhere else.....anywhere else.....please?




#rigassatiksme #kiepniekkalns #riga #etalons #accusedofbreathing