Friday the 19th I deceided to take the Greyhound Bus instead of driving over the icy pass, so Chris drove me to the bus depot to travel from Everett to Yakima. It sounded easy, just take the bus to Seattle then connect to one that goes to Ellensburg then another one on to Yakima leaving Seattle at 5 PM arriving in Yakima by 8 PM. Well, it didn't quite workout on that time schedule. From Everett to Seattle not to bad except the bus driver was yelling at everyone, especially two young guys that were really not being disruptive and I think the bus driver just needed to retire.
When I arrived in Seattle there must have been 200 people in the bus depot waiting mostly for a bus to Eastern Washington. I found a bench to sit down on, how I don't know it was so crowded and so I settled in for the long wait. I of course started chatting with one of the baggage handlers asking what the delay was and such just chit chatting with him and he told me the bus driver that got in the accident in Seattle that day hanging over the freeway was the driver that was suppose to take us east. I told him my Dad drove for Greyhound for 30 years. After sitting there for and hour or so he came by and told me to come with him and took me to the front of the line and said I was family and we get priority seating had a special chair outside by the bus gate. It was extremely cold out there and so he brought me a folding chair and put it inside the front door. When the bus came he took me right up to it and I was the first to get on.
Then the driver came, he was so young and looked so scared he showed us how to escape if we got in an accident and we got as far as Issaquah and he stopped and put on chains. We went 45 mph all the way to Yakima and arrived at 11:15 PM only 3 hours late. Oh my, Semi Trucks were passing us like we were sitting still.
I did learn and see some interesting things that might be helpful information while on the bus. You see everyone has cell phones and coverage was excellent so everyone is talking to their loved ones. There was a 'BLOND “lady that looked liked she had been around the corner a few times, talking to someone and I hear " OK, this is what you have to do." " Burn some toast, really burn it black, so black you can't tell it is toast." "Then have her eat it, but if she starts throwing up blood you will have to take her to the hospital". Medical advice on the bus, wow, so I quickly tucked that information away in my overcrowded brain because you never know when I might need a home cure for alcohol poisoning.
There was a young girl, maybe 20 on the bus had her name tattooed above her left eyebrow. "
Melisa" Hummmm, might not be a bad idea ya never know when your in a crowd and your looking for Melisa and your yelling for her, "Melisa, Melisa!!", and someone says, "She is right here" because they know it is her because she has a label on her forehead. Maybe we should all do that, Date of Birth, Social Security Number, Phone Number, ya' know the older I get the harder it is to remember these things. I would have to tattoo them in a private place so when asked my Social Security Number I would have to sit down and take off my shoe and look at the bottom of my foot. I will have to keep this in mind when the time comes I might need this, that is if the mind will let me keep it, I guess that is why I might need it tattooed. It is one big circle isn't it?
So as I learned from my Mother, a situation to some might be seem frustrating and irritating for some to endure, can be just a lot of interesting boxes to unwrap as you never know what you will find inside. So the long day on the bus was not just a long day on the bus, but a day of unwrapping boxes, seeing what interesting people and sights are right in front of us each day. So next time you are waiting in a long line or stuck in traffic just look around you to see what boxes you can unwrap, but please share, as I can't unwrap all the boxes.
