Something happened on the bus home this afternoon which I had never encountered before, but which I think I really need to vent on here about. I had had quite a pleasant afternoon, and was coming back from a trundle around the Olympic Park via Woolwich. I had just got on the bus and was looking forward to some lunch when a woman sat just behind me started shouting about ‘Jesus’. Now, I have written quite a bit on here before about how offensive I find street preaching: I find the notion that someone would try to force their belief system onto others while they are passing in the street the height of arrogance. What happened on the bus this afternoon, however, was far worse. That this woman thought she had a right, in the closed, confined space of a London bus, to try to force her belief system onto her fellow passengers was utterly infuriating.

Of course, when she started, I automatically felt the need to shout back and get the woman to shut the fuck up. No doubt my fellow passengers just wanted a quiet ride home; they didn’t want this arrogant cow shouting nonsense at them. The arrogance of this woman was sickening. Every time she started preaching I shouted back, hoping to make it clear that I found what she was doing utterly distasteful and abhorrent. Surely religion should be kept to yourself. To try to force it onto others in such a public space is, to me, unacceptable.

This exchange continued throughout my journey home. Every time she started shouting about Jesus, I shouted back to tell her to shut up. I’m not sure what the rules are regarding preaching on public transport, but TFL definitely should have a law against it. People can believe whatever nonsense they want of course, but to try to force it onto others as they are trying to get home is just perverse. Obviously, as I was wheeling off the bus at my stop, I heard the lady start to shout again. I really hope I’ve not just seen the first instance of something I’ll now encounter more often.