For the first time in my life, I took a Greyhound Bus on a trip to Ohio this past weekend. I've taken trips on charter buses before but this was the first time I actually bought a ticket to sit on a bus full of random people I had never before met. I figured it would be quite an interesting experience. It was.
I should probably point out that I decided to book my trip on Greyhound as a last resort. I couldn't find any flights available within the times I needed to travel. And being that I already get up at 5 a.m. on Friday and work at least a ten-hour shift, the last thing I want to do after work is drive for five and a half hours. I've fallen asleep driving once before; it's not a fun thing to do.
Okay, so back to my trip.... Roe Conn, my all-time favorite radio personality, stated that "Most people riding on Greyhound are either running from their wedding or running from 'The Law'." I was in the bus terminal for no more than 5 minutes when I found Roe's assessment to be accurate. The guy in front of me in line started making small talk so I asked him where he was going. His response: "Well, it's really great. I've been on the run for a while now but the State of Florida just told my attorney that they'll reduce my sentence from 30 years to 5 years if I go turn myself in. So I'm on my way to do that now."
Was he kidding!? No. He wasn't. So I half-heartedly congratulated him, gave a fake smile and silently told myself I would do everything in my power to make sure I was sitting as far away from this guy as possible once we got on the bus. In order to keep my distance I sat in the back of the bus, by the bathroom. "Great," I think to myself. "If this fugitive guy goes crazy and starts running around with a knife or something, I'll just lock myself in the bathroom." Whatever comfort sitting close to the bathroom gave me, it was quickly forgotten and over-powered by the stench of the bathroom. This leads me to Dave's Travel Tip #234: Always bring Axe Deodorant in your carry-on bag. Not only is it a great deodorant to put on your body, it also doubles as an air-freshener when sitting next to a wreaking lavatory.
I could go on and on about my Greyhound experience. The above paragraphs only cover the first few minutes of the trip, before we even left the terminal. But in all fairness, the rest of my Greyhound experience was rather uneventful (Compared to what I've already mentioned). In a future post, I'll be sure to fill you in on what I learned regarding how Greyhound pays it's drivers and how this results in poor service to their customers.
What an amazing experience.
Posted by: Lisa C | October 14, 2005 at 22:54
oh no - that is hilarious = the things some people say!!!
Posted by: Mariann (Birch) | January 07, 2009 at 14:05