Ever since the middle of the war, well behaved Londoners have patiently queued at recognized bus stops to await their chance, in order and decorum. To its friends, queueing up is a symbol of British fair play; to its enemies, a sign of genteel regimentation typical of the new British welfare state. Either way, only the vulgarest opportunists ever sought to bypass the queue by climbing aboard the open rear platform of a halted bus between stops. Last week, however, once respectable middle-aged businessmen and elderly ladies were kiting after stopped buses like hounds on the scent.
The race began when a...