was working/worked

[milan2003_07]

Hello everyone,
Recently I came across a sentence and had some doubts about grammar tenses:

"When my father met my mother, he was working/worked as a bus driver".

I think we should use "was working" because it's a process, but maybe my father wasn't working as a bus driver just at the moment when he met my mother.

What do You think?

Thanks

 

[teechar]

I think we should use "was working"

You're right.

because it's a process,

No. The past continuous is typically used for a long past action/state (working as a bus driver) that is interrupted by a short action (met).

but maybe my father wasn't working as a bus driver just at the moment when he met my mother.

That doesn't really matter. He needn't have been driving a bus at the time of their first encounter.

 

[emsr2d2]

If the driving and the meeting had happened at the same time, you'd say "My dad was driving a bus when he met my mum" or something like "My mum got on a bus and immediately fell in love with the driver, my dad!"