Leader on the Bus

 This is a great story.  We got off the first cruise at Southampton, England on May 4th and took a bus or coach to our hotel, which was arranged by Princess. The bus was about 2/3 full of people all going to the Raddison Blue Hotel in downtown London. Ken and I were sitting in the front seats of the coach.  It takes a couple of hours to get to London from the port.  Ken was watching the signs and noticed that the driver was going toward Heathrow airport rather than downtown.  Everyone else was totally unaware of what was happening.  As we neared the airport, Ken asked the driver where he was going.  He said the Radisson Blu hotel at Heathrow.  No, we are supposed to go to the Radisson Blu hotel in downtown London.  The driver argued, "No, my orders told me Radisson Blu Heathrow.  So Ken shouted to all of the passengers, asking them which hotel they were supposed to go to.  All of them were supposed to go downtown.  The driver then realized we had a problem.  He found a place to pull over and he called his headquarters.   Headquarters made a call and called him back saying it was a mistake; we were supposed to go downtown. His boss told him to take us downtown. So, the driver made a U-turn and started downtown. After driving for awhile, the driver told Ken that there is a law that a driver has to take a 45 minute break every four hours, so he would need to stop.  Ken announced that to everyone in a calm and uprising preventative way.  We stopped at a convenience store.  That gave us all a break.  When we came out, there was a different bus waiting for us.  Headquarters had quickly arranged for another driver to come and get us and take us the rest of the way into town. Our luggage was sent by lorry from the dock to the downtown hotel.  It was there waiting for us.

So, that's the story.  But I have to make my commentary.   Ken was amazing as a leader in that situation. He respectively discussed the situation with the driver, finally getting him to listen.  At first he was determined he was taking us to the Heathrow hotel no matter what.  People were angry and Ken calmed them.  He displayed amazing leadership skills.   When the bus driver announced that he had to take a break, Ken sensed an uprising, and he calmly shouted that this was the rule and it would be fine- it would give us all a chance for a break. His awareness of where we were headed, his loud voice and leadership skills saved the day.  I was very proud of him.