A Living Magazine - Day 136 - Text Bussed-ed Driver

I needed to be up by 5:00 am in order to pack up and get downtown early to catch the bus at 9:30 to Memphis. I knew where the Greyhound station was (or thought I did), because I'd been by it several times during the week.

As they always are, the departures from the towns I've stayed in are sentimental days. I assume - for the most part - that I will never see them again. That I can take pictures and meet the everyday people who live in these places, is a privilege, an honor and a blessing all rolled into one.

I was right on schedule, and took some shots as I walked along Capitol, downtown for the last time...

Finally, I got to see some geese from the Capitol Street Bridge!

I heard them flying south every night.

I guess these three wanted a rest before taking off again.

I liked this. It is not graffiti. Instead it is part of road construction

information to show where the boundary of the street light is.

I stopped by my favorite crabapple tree and filled my pocket with apples, pulling them out one by one and munching them along the way. In traditional IWALLK fashion, I took a wrong turn and ended up in the Canal District, a place I'd never explored in Indianapolis. It was a shame that my diversion had not occurred before this day. There were tons of photo worthy sights, but my mistake was costing me too much time, and the camera stayed in its case.

I asked a guy leaf blowing how to get back to Greyhound and he said I was now way off. The bead of sweat formed. He was a bit unsure, pointing me back towards Pennsylvania Avenue (which I knew from my days there, was a bit too far, but at least I caught his drift).  What I needed to do was get back to Capitol and continue down that, under a foot bridge toward the stadium. I got to the right area, recognizing everything except where the station was.

It was uncomfortably close to the one hour before departure, and I felt like I'd been transported to an alternate reality, where everything was exactly like it is here, but was missing the Greyhound Station. Then, I saw a guy next to one of the "Dial a Ride" busses, out on the sidewalk adjusting his seat. If anyone knew exactly where this damn station was, he did. I asked him, and he said that I was only one block away, then pointed me to a side street.

When I looked down it I saw the Omni Hotel, with the snobby Starbucks I'd gone to when I first got into town the week before. BINGO! I half ran, and the sweat soaked into my hat as I entering through the back door of the station. I took off the pack and stood in the Ticket Counter line, just to make sure I knew exactly from which gate I'd be leaving. There, in the nick of time--I should have been used to that by now, but I just wasn't. I bought a lemonade and stood outside the door, watching the sun reflect off the surrounding buildings as it rose above the city...

Not exactly the Milwaukee Greyhound station, where my

buddy Jim worked, but this was much more like what I was used to in all the other cities.

I heard the muffled, incomprehensible voice speak over the intercom, and knew instinctively that it was my time to leave. I stood in line with about twenty people who all had tickets. Mine was an eTicket, so I had to show ID. Interestingly, I have not had any issues with the expiration date in months. And, the driver said I was all set. We all boarded and were off to Gainesville, Indiana, my connection to the next bus...

The driver was silent as we pulled out. They ALWAYS give an introductory speech--strange. Yet, besides two Latina ladies who talked non-stop behind me, things seemed to be fine, until our first stop (which was not announced) about two hours into the four and a half hour trip (I'm not sure where it was?). Unlike all other Greyhound trips I've ever taken, the driver had offered no stretch break so far. This was a bus leased to Greyhound by a company called Miller Transportation, but I wasn't sure which company the driver worked for. All the passengers looked around at each other, thinking this trip had been a bit odd. I figured maybe we'd get a break about an hour later.

The hour passed and we reached Washington, Indiana, again with no announcement. The driver got out of his seat and stood looking down the bus aisle, saying "Well, we're in Washington? Who's getting off here?" An older woman looked back and forth and then stood up and walked toward the door. He kind-of scooted her out and returned to his seat--again, no break for us.

I was beginning to get perturbed. I found his behavior to be unprofessional at best, and bordering on irresponsible. I looked down the aisle toward the front of the bus and saw his right elbow furiously moving back and forth, and thought to myself, this would be an interesting time to be beating off. I just passed it off as some kind of nervous habit. Maybe he was just a bit disturbed, or having a bad day?

In another half hour we reached the next stop. No one had any idea where, since, once again, it was unannounced. He got off the bus, leaving the door open and walking into the small station. A bunch of people got up (some smokers, some people who needed to use the restroom and people like myself who wanted to grab a snack), nodded at each other, and exited the bus. I went in to buy my snack, but there were no vending machines. Walking back out, I was followed by the driver who stepped back onto the bus without a word. The smokers all quickly extinguished their butts, and ran back on board. In a flash, we were off again...

I thought I'd gone through all my apples but found that two had rolled out onto the seat...

A happy surprise! Two little apples I'd missed. At least I had something to munch.

At some point, I noticed that the clouds were in a strange formation I'd never seen before, wisping off the their tops and forming shark fins or maybe the ears of husky dogs and they ran through the snow. Very cool!...   

The cloud ears of snow dogs, as they cross the tundra.

We sped through one town, around a Wal-Mart parking lot, where presumably, people might be waiting to catch the bus. The driver did not stop, and continued back out onto the highway. As we merged from that highway onto another, I saw that a white pickup truck was in our lane. The bus did not yield, but instead cut off the truck, causing it to quickly jerk over into the passing lane, honking. What was up with this driver?

In a similar fashion to the Wal-Mart speed-though, we passed another stripmall in some other unannounced town; not stopping, and then continuing on to Gainesville. I was irritated. People don't pay money for shitty service like this. I caught this sign on the way through...

NO THANKS!

When we pulled into the Gainesville station the driver said, as he walked off the bus, "Everyone gets off here to make your next connections." No "Thank you for riding Greyhound." No NOTHING.

When I stepped off the bus, I walked up to the driver and said, "Excuse me sir, aren't you supposed to announce stops?"

He stood silently staring at me for a whole minute. I'd seen this kind of stare before. It is from a man who has been caught doing something he shouldn't and can't keep the cat from getting his tongue. Then weakly, barely audibly, he said, "Yeah... I guess I missed few."

I just replied, "Well, I guess everyone has a bad day." He turned and walked into the station.

As soon as I walked over to the siding, where about one hundred people were waiting to connect to other buses, two guys, Bryan and Shawn - great guys who I got to ride along with all the way to Memphis - must have heard my complaint, because Bryan said, "That driver was texting for the whole trip, you know?"

You readers know by now how I feel about texting drivers. Everything was making sense. Bryan told me he gotten a good shot of it. "Seriously?" I asked. And, Shawn said he saw it too. Then, I asked Bryan to email it to me, which he did...

Sure enough!!

I felt betrayed by either Miller or Greyhound, or both, for allowing us to ride with this driver. I was fuming. Nothing had been more important to him than sending text messages all the while that he made no announcements, gave no breaks, was impatient with riders, and cut off other drivers on the highway! 

I vowed that I would not let this go. When I got on my connection to Memphis, I immediately posted the picture on Facebook, expecting outrage from my dear friends. But, what happened? Nothing. 

Except for a couple comments, no one gave a shit. Nice. Some of you - though I love you guys - are just as guilty of this crime, you know it, and now I know it. 

Perhaps you are too ashamed to say anything? Perhaps you would feel too hypocritical by commenting, or sharing this travesty on your own profile pages? Perhaps you just don't care at all?

Whatever it is, I don't hate you for it, but I pray that this behavior never leads to the death of anyone--including yourself, your kids, your spouse, your friends, or family members. There is nothing loving about your inattention while driving; putting everyone in your life in danger each day. In my mind it is a sin.

I was extremely disappointed by your non-reactions, and hid the post from my wall, mostly to keep myself from becoming overly angry about it. Anyone who does not text and drive, but did not comment, or didn't have the chance to, I apologize for my tone here. 

If I had been ripped apart in the glass and metal of a bus wreck, and the reason was discovered to be driver inattention, due to texting, I know you who don't text and drive would be the first ones (and maybe the only ones) to offer real comfort to my family. All others not in this category should be ashamed of themselves. This is probably the only thing I would ever guilt trip you over--and if you feel bad--GOOD. You are betraying your friend (me) by continuing with this madness. Let's leave it at that for now.

Dark clouds of the uncaring bad judgement from other people, seemed to linger with me.

I put my life on the line out here to do something that has never been done before,

for the sake of love and to show this beautiful country to you.

I am practicing what I preach by tapping my fingertips on this keyboard every single day.

I am CAREful, because I care, and am therefore, becoming wiser for it.

* * * * * * *        Are you?       * * * * * * *

The next leg was much more relaxed. The driver was attentive, funny and friendly. I spoke to him many times at our frequent rest breaks and thanked him heartily when I deboarded seven hours later in Memphis...

My last view of the bus, as I walked out onto Brooks Street to find a camp spot. 

On Google Earth I saw a patch of green about four kilometers west of the station. Wearing my little red flashing LED light on my back, I found it easily, and marched off into the field, shutting off the light.

In a spot some way back from the field area, among the swampy wet parts of the woods, was a slightly elevated area. I went to work breaking off branches, and clearing a spot, covering it with the driest leaves I could find, then assembled my tent, climbed inside and quickly fell asleep.

Memphis Sleeping Spot 1