I’ve got to try harder not to get irritated by things like this.  It’s not so much that the bus is out of service, more so that we’re being led to believe the bus is apologising for it.  Buses can’t say sorry.  There’s no ‘I’ here.  It’s a bus, it’s not in service.  That’s all we need to know.

And while I’m on it, signs – usually on a loo door – saying ‘Out of order, we apologise for any inconvenience this may cause’. First off, if I’m reading it and I’m not bursting there’s no need to apologise. If I am, well, it has caused inconvenience and there’s no ‘may’ about it.  Oh, and for toilets, find another word instead of inconvenience – obviously the people who write these notices have no sense of irony.

Last one, for the moment.  Motorway signs – you know, the electronic matrix ones – that instead of saying ‘Traffic jam ahead, get off the motorway’ offer advice like ‘Check Your Fuel’ or ‘Wear Seatbelts’.  Need I say more?