The answer is when he or she is a ‘passenger assistant’. Both The Times and Daily Mail reported on a job advert by bus operator Go-Ahead London for a role that would suit a “good face-to-face communicator” with “customer-facing experience” and a “natural flair for going the extra mile”. Prospective candidates were also asked if they had “the kind of personality that made last year’s Olympic games makers so successful”.
As a spokesperson for the Plain English Campaign pointed out, “Wanted – helpful bus conductor” would be a lot clearer. They added, “The prospective clippie must now undertake ‘routine patrols’ and be a ‘visible presence’ to passengers – which, of course, makes us wonder what fun it would be to be an invisible presence instead!”
