Gingerbread hearts were given to passengers on a bus line in Brno last Friday. Bus driver Tomáš Giertli baked, decorated and packed 177 gingerbread for Valentine’s Day.
He loves his work and the people he drives, and he is always trying to make their journey more pleasant. “This is the smell of the fireplace so that passengers have a pleasant smell to make them feel good here,” says thirty-six-year-old driver Tomáš Giertli.
Originally from Slovakia, this bus driver took care to make the bus smell like gingerbread, and hang red paper hearts he made himself on the upper handles and bars. “My attitude and view of the world as a bus driver is different. And my colleagues took me from the beginning like I’m crazy. They were joking because I drive around the Psychiatric Hospital. But then they realized I was just such a positive person who likes to please people,” says the smiling driver as he sits in his cabin.
Gingerbread with wishes
A red pocket hangs off of the ticket kiosk. It is decorated with gingerbread hearts, each wrapped in a cellophane bag.
“There are 177 of them, but I have already given a few of them, so around 160, but I still have candy,” Giertli points to the backpack and heads from the Olympia shopping center to Modřice, where the first people enter. “Hello, have a heart and a beautiful Valentine’s Day,” Giertli joyfully greets the passengers.
When you care about passengers
“I wasn’t surprised at all. The driver is so nice and kind. He once gave my two grandsons two candies. In the beginning, when he started riding here, I was surprised because I had never experienced anything like this. Now I always sit in the front. It is obvious that he cares about the passengers,” said passenger Iva Stejskalová.
Most of the passengers on line 49 from Modřice were not surprised with the gift; they know their driver well and enjoy talking to him. However, the closer the bus to the city center and the central station, the fewer people respond. “People are usually focused on their responsibilities, the urban bustle, so they do not even see who is sitting at the wheel,” said Giertli. But he is kind to all passengers, and when he can, he offers them gingerbread.
He always wanted to be a driver Giertli has been a driver in Brno for the three years. Previously, he worked in finance and operated a café in the Orlické Mountains.
Now, he is a part-time graphic designer and occasionally works at a café. “I probably always wanted to be a bus driver in the corner of my soul. I have a great love for the work, but also for the passengers we’re here for,” he confides.
Bus driver Tomáš does not just give away sweets for Valentine’s Day, but also for other holidays such as Christmas. Every day he is at work, he offers people a good deal of optimism and smiles that every passenger can carry to work or school.
