Travel Gripes: Getting There is Half the Battle (Pt. 1 of 2)

Undoubtedly, the biggest news surrounding the Tri-State area has been the blizzard that blew through on Sunday and pretty much paralyzed the area through most of Monday. Today, things are getting back to business as usual but last I heard there was snow accumulation of upwards of 20 inches in NYC and I felt just how strong the winds were during my brief foray outdoors on Sunday and Monday. Staying in was definitely the best course of action but since I was returning home from a holiday trip when the blizzard started, I had no choice but to hunker down and hope that I made it there as quickly as possible, with little incident. You see, with a whole day and a half off from work and the promise of an extended weekend, I took the opportunity to book a trip to visit family in Virginia. During the previous weekend, I’d taken a bus down to D.C. and before I could even leave the city, what had started off on a high note quickly went south when I arrived at the pick-up location and came upon the mass of people who were clogging up the sidewalks waiting for their delayed bus. My bus was in turn delayed and it took over two hours of standing in the freezing cold before the bus arrived and we were finally on our way. At the time, I thought that that was the worst that could happen but apparently, I was overly optimistic that nothing would mar the holiday weekend.

In general, I hate traveling during major holidays. There are always too many people in one place and inevitable delays. But it’s a necessary evil. And although I very much wanted to be home on Christmas with the rest of my immediate family, I could not go back on my promise to visit one particular family member who would be alone for the holidays. So I sucked it up and prepared myself to tack on at least another hour to my trip. But I could not have prepared myself for how long my estimated 6-7 hours trip actually lasted. Imagine this, we’re steadily rolling along for close to an hour after pulling away from a rest stop in New Jersey when the bus suddenly slows down and pulls off to a soft shoulder. The driver briefly steps out to check on something and is starting up again within a few minutes. My thoughts at that point were that he really needed a cigarette or to empty his bladder and I couldn’t begrudge him that, as long as there weren’t any more sudden stops. But that was exactly what happened. Not only once but three more times the bus started and stopped before the driver finally announced that he would have to pull into a strip mall close by and we’d have to wait about two hours for another bus! Throughout the stops, a few of my fellow passengers went up to the bus driver and asked him to tell us what was going on. Not an unreasonable request, considering we were paying customers and we were expecting our next and final stop to be in Virginia, not Delaware. But since the driver claimed not to speak any English, he pretty much ignored all questions and said nothing more than he felt that he needed to. One can imagine how someone would react to being ignored in such a manner but that’s Chinatown customer service for you!

The Chinatown bus companies have a long, storied history of poor, rude service, cramped buses and uncommunicative drivers and I saw evidence of this when I boarded the bus. The only words spoken to the customers were instructions to have their tickets available and when a passenger complained that his seat was wet, they told him to sit down. When he refused, the drivers told him to get off the bus and wait for another one and started pulling off before he’d gotten a chance to comply. If this was a sign of things to come, I missed the memo completely. In all fairness, if the proprietors and drivers were bad, the customers weren’t much better either. Many were loud and inconsiderate…but one can concede that their behavior manifested as a result of our shared circumstance.

When our bus broke down, instead of sitting quietly, napping, reading, or doing any type of constructive activity, most of the fifty plus passengers took the opportunity to socialize. Some made frequent trips to the liquor store and smoked and drank steadily for the over fours hours that we had to wait until another bus showed up. Some stayed on the bus and talked in loud voices to the people around them. And some gossiped about the people drinking on the sidewalk. One woman in particular seemed to feel duty-bound to give play-by-play announcements of other people’s activities. When people ran across the parking lot to find a restroom, she reported on it. When a group made yet another trip to the liquor store, she mentioned that too and made her disdain clear. Every word spoken and every action taken was an opportunity for her to comment. And judge. For me, she was one of the most annoying passengers because of her know-it-all, holier-than-thou attitude and strident voice that seemed to reverberate in my ear. Just my luck that she had the seat directly behind me! Of course, the real drama didn’t start until some of the drinkers were drunk enough to feel put out by the fact that we were well beyond the estimated two hours wait and there was no bus in sight and no forthcoming news from the driver. As if this would help our cause, a few of the drunks proceeded to curse and threaten the driver with bodily harm if a bus didn’t show up within a certain amount of time. This went on a few more times and thankfully, the driver survived each encounter unharmed. But I was relieved when a state trooper arrived (someone called to report the bus driver?) and these episodes came to an end. Since I was sitting in the second row, I couldn’t help but witness the exchanges and while the developing drama added interest to what could have been an otherwise dull trip, it shamed me. These were not people who I wanted to spend any considerable amount of time with and I’d have to consider other options when making travel plans in the future.

If I thought that our remaining 3 hours drive would pass in peace and quiet because of the late hour, I was once again proven wrong. Shortly after the state trooper arrived to question the driver and make some calls, another bus pulled up and we were quickly underway. We had first boarded the bus around 3 pm and it was now sometime after midnight. Clearly, many of us were tired but some people, mainly the drunk people, weren’t ready to pass out or let us rest. While the bus was in motion, the walked up and down the aisle, passed out liquor to anyone who wanted some, spoke in loud voices and generally made a nuisance of themselves. Some of the other passengers yelled at them to sit down and shut up and it was another hour before the bus finally quieted down and peace reigned. When I finally disembarked from the bus just before 4 am (a whole 12 hours from when I first boarded), I bitterly regretted that I had purchased a round trip ticket. I was not looking forward to repeating any part of that experience.

Check back for part 2 wherein I recount my attempt to brave a blizzard in order to get home.