This "Life on the Bus'' entry could almost be a dream. One of the best challenges we have received from our new Government is to "get along better with each other''. I was in the company of a number of people who have accepted this challenge personally. These "angels of mercy'' recently decided to congregate on the early Number 3 bus that was travelling through Smith's Parish. The first angel was the bus driver, Ms Woolridge. I was close to the stop and she did not have to wait for me but she did. I heard, while exiting the bus, that I was not the only recipient of such behaviour that day.

The other angels don't have names for me yet but I'm sure in time they will.

Every day for the last 80 or so, my bus pass was right in my shirt pocket but not this day. Before I could sift through my belongings to find the correct change my second angel was in action passing a bus ticket to the driver saying: "I'm sure you will find your's the moment you get to work''. She even refused to be reimbursed once I arrived at my seat.

The third angel performed her miracle with just a few words. My obvious embarrassment and distress were dispelled with her statement, which was echoed by several other riders: "We take care of each other on this bus.'' So the challenge to our Government is this: if you want to see people getting along better with each other, ride the early morning bus to work for a month.

You will be very proud of Bermuda's people and if you are real lucky even meet a few angels of mercy.

DOCTOR MIKE Smith's Parish Money not good enough The following letter was sent to Mr. John Bento, President of Star Motors and copied to The Royal Gazette .

January 8, 1999 Dear Mr. Bento, I believe that great service should be recognised just as equally, if not more so, than poor service and in that vein I wish to tell you of my experience today at your dealership. I walked into your showroom at 9 this morning with $2,500 in hand to purchase a brand new Suzuki motorcycle.

When I approached your salesperson to tell him that I wanted to buy one of your bikes he looked up from his desk and said: "Sorry, I can't deal with you today. You'll have to come back.'' Since I thought he was joking, I just chuckled and said again: "No, I really want to buy one of your RC100DT's'' whereupon he said, even louder this time: "No. I have ten bikes I have to get through TCD today and I don't have time for any more. Come back later this afternoon and we'll try to get you one for Monday.'' Of course being very disappointed, I left and went to buy my second choice, a Yamaha.

I tried to call you when I got home this morning and congratulate you on putting together such a wonderful sales team that they've sold more vehicles than they can keep up with. You weren't in so I left a message but I guess you've been so busy looking after your customers that you never got a chance to call me back.

That's when I thought I'd write this letter and copy it to The Royal Gazette so that everyone in Bermuda can see what a wonderful job you are doing. I thought I'd also send a copy to Suzuki Motor Corporation in Japan and tell them that you're selling so many bikes in Bermuda that you can't handle any more. Hopefully that should ease the pressure on your sales team and give you a little more free time to really enjoy life.

Good luck...

A NEW YAMAHA OWNER City of Hamilton BTC jobs count too January 19, 1999 Dear Sir, In response to the letters that appeared in your paper on January 20, 1999, concerning BTC, I would like to speak out in support of BTC management and staff: Maybe BTC would be in a better position to handle competition if Lorraine Lyle had come sooner. Who knows, she obviously comes from a competitive environment which is something that previous BTC CEOs and Board members have never had to deal with, or have maybe just ignored with a "it will never happen to us attitude''.

Health Insurance is a must in Bermuda, however does anyone question the increase in Health Insurance for the elderly who pay $107.70 a month? Maybe instead of purchasing that extra materialistic item, or buying lunch every day, we could help our elderly relative with a phone increase.

As for poor service, BTC is not alone. There are many places in Bermuda that give poor service, but let's give some credit to those BTC workers who do work hard providing good services. They are the ones who put the customer first, the ones who leave their families home alone during hurricanes, the ones who are threatened and ridiculed during sporadic walk-outs.

I believe BTC has not had a rate increase since 1996 and at that time it was roughly $2.00. How many times since then have you had to pay more for vehicle insurance, bank fees, electricity and gas, to name just a few? Yes, I do feel for those who live on a tight budget. I also feel for the BTC worker who is threatened with job loss, but let's ask ourselves these questions: who will pay their mortgages, rents, food etc.? Social assistance? D.E. ROBERTS Paget It's better with MCI January 15, 1999 Dear Sir, I have recently received from a friend in Texas, a copy of a telephone bill from MCI. The document is very interesting to someone who has spent 33 years in Bermuda and has therefore been subjected to just about all the various profiteering activities of what would seem to be the great majority of Bermuda businesses.

During the month covered by the bill my friend made six long distance calls and four international long distance to the UK. The item here which strikes one as interesting is a 55 minute call to the UK at 12 midday on a Sunday which cost a basic $6.60. One doesn't need to be Einstein to calculate roughly that the call would have cost something like $75 here in Bermuda. The total minutes during the month to UK were 147 at a total cost of $17.64! Long distance across Texas and to Missouri totalled 27 minutes at $1.75! (for six calls). One might add that Dallas, Texas is about half as far again from the UK as Bermuda. Cable & Wireless is an enormous multinational which must be able to organise as efficiently as MCI, so why this factor of ten (and more) times the price? My friend's total bill for that month, with all the taxes and surcharges that only the Americans seem to be able to think up, was $21.65! The Cable & Wireless bill would have been about $200 and TeleBermuda's about $170.

In the past we couldn't expect the UBP government to do anything in such matters; they, presumably, were on the receiving end of such profits in many, many cases. But now we have a socialist government sworn to relieve us of such gouging. How long will it take them to get Bermuda into the 20th Century just when everyone else in the world is entering the 21st.

ALAN BAINBRIDGE Pembroke Car driver scared me January 19, 1999 Dear Sir, On Tuesday, January 19, 1999 at about 7.35 a.m. I was driving my black car along Ord Road, Warwick. I was taking my son to his sitter. As I came upon the Paget Primary School I noted a white car coming directly towards me at a high speed. All I could do was to slow down. As the car passed, it struck my passenger side mirror. The impact was loud enough to wake my sleeping five- month-old son who was buckled in his car seat.

I would just like to thank you for damaging my car, waking my son and causing me great distress. Also to you, "Mr. hit and run'', you did not even slow down or even stop to lend assistance. Just to make matters worst, another thank you to the man who was riding his motorbike behind me. I am sure you saw what happened? You would not even slow down or even stop. Guess male chivalry is really dead.

WENDY L. THOMPSON Sandys Parish