‘I Looked At The Floor And Noticed A Shiny 50p Coin With Its Woodcock Looking Back At Me’

We asked our readers to provide their best Dublin Bus stories, for a chance to win the ultimate day out in Dublin. Check out story #1 here from Ray Whitford

“It was 1994 and I just returned from working in Germany when I got a new job in Phibsborough shopping centre. 

“Waiting for the bus to Finglas at the Hart’s Corner stop, I met a friendly young girl and we started talking. We both hopped on the 40A to Finglas. The bus was jammers with commuters heading home after a hard day’s work, so the girl and I had to stand together closely.

“I looked at the floor and noticed a shiny 50 pence coin with its woodcock looking back at me. In the cramped space, it was too awkward to bend down and pick it up.

“I whispered to the girl, ‘Look down beside my shoe’. She looked and I placed my foot on the coin. 

“‘I’m getting off at the next stop’, I said. ‘Me too’. She smiled at me. 

“As we walked towards the door of the bus, we took it in turns to kick the coin and when the doors opened I kicked the coin one more time, out of the bus, spinning through the air… and down into a drain.

“I have to admit that I was slightly gutted to lose 50p at the time, but little did I know I was gaining something priceless — I’m happy to say that 23 years later, the girl I met on the bus that day is now my wife and mother to my two sons. 

“I’ll always look back at Dublin Bus with fond memories, for without that bus, that coin and that friendly young girl, who knows where I’d be today.”