I WAS a passenger on the bus and witnessed the whole incident described by the writer of the letter( August 6) signed "Disgruntled and humiliated".

It has to be said that she has been somewhat economical with the truth.

First and foremost, I would like to say that the bus driver acted quite properly throughout. In fact, in my opinion he showed great restraint in the face of overwhelming rudeness and the aggressive manner being directed at him by this woman.

The whole issue involved a difference of opinion regarding her daughter's age, and eligibility for concessionary half fare. As the driver was uncertain about her age, he was quite within his rights to ask for proof. It has to be said that he could easily be forgiven for thinking that she was indeed older than 13.

Her complaint that "the driver just wanted to cause a scene and humiliate me and my family" is unfair and inaccurate as, in my view, she succeeded in doing that to herself. Her conduct throughout was appalling.

What I found most odd was the fact that, when confronted with the only option of paying full fare, the daughter in question was told to catch another bus by her mother -- yet she continued her journey with this so-called "driver from hell"! The mother was still ranting at the driver when she alighted. She was demanding his name, which he refused to give (probably quite correctly) while at the same time advising her to refer to the bus number, route and time of travel when making her complaint.

In her final paragraph she advises other parents to obtain these proof-of-age passes for their teenagers "who may be out late at night and not allowed to travel on a bus". Maybe these parents should first consider whether their youngsters should be out late at night in the first place! I certainly wasn't at 13.

SATISFIED PASSENGER