I hadn’t been anywhere in a long time.
Actually, I hadn’t been traveling much over the past 10 years. I am used to
taking off and going here or there to visit family and friends and I had not
been doing that much. I missed a good road trip.
My brother and I had gone to
Philadelphia once and Savannah, GA twice to visit his son and his family. We’d
taken short trips from Chicago to Galesburg to visit friends and family but
that was about all. And since I’d been in Florida, I really hadn’t gone anywhere
so I was overdue for a trip.
Blountstown, Florida is a nice little
town in the Panhandle of Florida. Nothing much happens here and if you don’t
have a car, you are really stuck. We lost our car late last year and we had
only been going to the doctor either in Tallahassee or Panama City and I was
very bored.
Eddie is living in Tucson, Arizona and
we hadn’t seen each other in nearly 2 years. He had been diagnosed with
multiple myeloma and amyloidosis in 2011 and we had gone though all of his
treatment and chemotherapy together in Chicago. In 2015, we both left Chicago; he went to
Tucson and I went to Blountstown.
Eddie also has severe glaucoma and we
had to deal with multiple eye surgeries as his doctor was determined to save
what sight my brother had left so it had been a long and difficult process for
him but he had been a true warrior and went through it all barely complaining.
I was honestly concerned about his
health and I wanted to see for myself how he was. He is kind of stoic and will
say he is all right even when he is in pain so I wanted to be sure he really
was all right. He was pretty much alone out there so I figured a visit was in
order. I had never been to Texas so I thought it would be fun to take the bus
out there.
Now I don’t have a problem riding the
bus. When I was a child, we often took the bus to go to visit family. We took
trips from Chicago to Detroit, Washington, D.C., New York but mostly to Vero
Beach, Florida, where our grandparents lived. I loved those trips on Greyhound.
And after I was grown, I still didn’t
mind taking bus trips so it wasn’t unusual for me to do it again. Most of my
friends and family by then swore they could not do it but I didn’t mind. As
long as I had something to read, music and something to drink between stops, I
was good.
This was going to be a different route
than what I had initially looked at when I was deciding when to go. It would
have made sense for the bus to stick close to I-10 and go through Destin,
Pensacola, Mobile, New Orleans, Houston, and San Antonio.
Instead, it went to Houston then up to
Dallas and then down to El Paso and then Lordsburg, New Mexico and then to
Tucson. I was leaving from Panama City, Florida so the trip would take about 2
days. It was a longer trip than I had taken for a while. Usually, my trips were
about 24 hours in length. But I was fine with it. I had packed most of what I
needed in a handy carryon bag.
Now I am not a person who travels light.
I try but I always seem to take too much. I was taking my laptop with me and my
backpack to keep with me. My carryon was just a bit too big to go in the
overhead bin so I checked my suitcase and kept the rest with me.
I am a senior and I do have some health
issues that make some travel a bit tricky for me, so I always request to sit in
the front seats and I ask for priority boarding so that I don’t have to wait in
line. Usually, the ticket agents are good about it and I get my seat before
most of the other people get on the bus. They also check my bag granting it
“special handling” which means that when I have to change buses, I don’t have
to go get my bag. The baggage people will put it on the bus for me which really
helps a lot.
We don’t have a car, but Harmon, my
husband, was going to the doctor in Tallahassee the day I planned to leave. I
always go with him to the doctor and we get picked up by the local senior
transportation service. I asked if I could be dropped off at the bus station in
Tallahassee which meant I could get a bus to Panama City sparing me having to
get someone to take me to PC. That went smoothly, even though a one way ticket
to PC cost me more than I had expected.
I got to the station earlier than I had
planned and had to sit there for a few hours waiting for the bus. I hadn’t
gotten any cash so I couldn’t get something out of the vending machines and the
charging station there didn’t work and I needed to charge my phone so I had to
use the one connection they had there.
The bus station closed for an hour or so
in the afternoon so we all had to leave the station. There was no place near
where we could wait so I went across the street and sat at the bus stop because
it was the one place where there was a bench with shade. And yes, it was hot.
But it was better than sitting on the ground so I sat there. I was letting my
friends and family know where I was and how my trip was going on Facebook.
The bus arrived late but finally, we
boarded and took off. I was going to be on the same bus all the way to Houston
so I was delighted. The driver was a black woman and she was a really good driver.
She made up the lost time and got us to Mobile on time.
I hate it when we get to a station and
the restaurant is closed. I figure if buses are going to arrive there all times
of night, they should keep something open so that we weary and hungry travelers
can get a sandwich or something. I got some cash from an ATM and hit the
vending machines and that had to do till we got to Lake Charles.
The stop there was actually a gas
station, which I discovered is what many stops are. They had fried chicken and
meat pies which I love so I got some and a cup of coffee and that was my
breakfast.
I had ridden along pretty much sitting
alone all the way to Houston but when I had to get on my new bus, I found it
was packed and I had to put my carry on under the bus and tuck my backpack
under the seat. It was really uncomfortable. My legs were stiff and I could
barely move my knees so each time we had a stop and could get off the bus and
stretch, I did. Unfortunately, I had to ride that way all the way through Texas,
which was no fun.
I had to change buses in Dallas and that
was a trip. There were a few customer service agents whom I called the Seat
Nazis. There were some seats reserved
for Priority Boarding and they insisted that you pay the $5 for that privilege.
Now Greyhound policies state that if you
are elderly or handicapped, you qualify for Priority Boarding and no one had
asked me to pay for it.
Not the Seat Nazis. One of them walked
through the station yelling at people telling them they couldn’t sit in the
Priority section unless they had their ticket stamped Priority. She didn’t want
you to sit on the floor and she was clearing folks away.
That bus station was crowded so there
wasn’t enough space for anyone to sit down. I went to the ticket counter and
paid the $5 and they stamped my ticket Priority all the way to Tucson and also
from Tucson all the way home. I felt better about that and the Seat Nazi
allowed me to sit peacefully till my bus left.
I got to Tucson as scheduled and got an
Uber to take me to my brother’s apartment. His place is small but really nice
and very clean. We were glad to see each other. We often sit and talk for hours
about political issues, social and racial issues and then we laugh and share
family memories. He and I have always been close and we had missed each other. I
wanted to go with him for his chemotherapy and talk to his doctors myself.
I decided to spend a few more days with
him and I changed my departure from Tuesday to Friday. It wasn’t until that
night before that I realized that if I had left that Friday, I would have
gotten caught right in the path of Hurricane Harvey who just happened to be
visiting Houston about the same time I would have arrived.
I endured a visit from Hurricane Katrina
in 2005, and that was about all the time I wanted to spend with a hurricane so
I postponed my trip again to the following Wednesday.
I called Greyhound that Monday and asked
if leaving would be all right. The person I spoke to had a very heavy accent
and was hard to understand and he apparently didn’t want to talk to me so he
was trying to hurry me off the phone. He told me that I would be rerouted after
I got to Dallas and I asked him again if it would be all right to leave
Wednesday and he assured me it would.
Looking back, I wonder if there was some
kind of communication gap between us, but I did ask him more than once and he
kept saying it would be fine.
Right.
So Wednesday, I showed up at the bus
station and the ticket agent told me there were no buses going that way and
that I should not travel for a few days. I told him I had called and spoken to
someone and he said, well, you will get to Dallas anyway.
I should have
listened to him. But he took my bag, checked it through to Panama City and off
I was again, on my way home.
When we got to El Paso, a baggage clerk
there told me I could not take my carryon on the bus. The bus wasn't that crowded so he was just being a jackass. I had only paid for one
seat he rudely reminded me and I had to go check my bag. That was going to cost
me $15 and I had already paid to change my ticket and I didn’t want to spend
any more.
Thankfully, when I went to the ticket
agent, I told her what I had been going through and she didn’t charge me to
check the second bag. I was not happy about it though.
I have asthma and cigarette smoke really
bothers me. I hated having to walk through the cloud of smoke to get in and out
of the bus station and having people get back on the bus with their clothes and
hair reeking of smoke was making me really sick.
One man got on the bus and asked if he
could sit next to me and without thinking I said no. He smelled like the bottom
of an ashtray. No way I could have tolerated that! It was bad enough that he
sat behind me. But I managed to have the seat all to myself most of the way
home, thank God.
When I got to Dallas the next day, my suitcase
was not there. Apparently the agent in Tucson had forgotten to put it on the
bus. And the customer service agent there in Dallas told me that I could not
leave until the next evening. I was going to have to spend the night in Dallas.
Things were getting worse.
The station was full of people and I was
concerned about my missing bag. She suggested I go to a shelter but we both
knew that wasn’t a good idea. There were a lot of people stranded there at the
station and some of them were either trying to get away from Houston or trying
to get there. Many of them were headed for the shelter and it was already
nearly full.
I went outside and looked around and saw several hotels but most
looked out of my league. This trip was going to cost me a lot of money.
I went to McDonalds and tried to get on
to Priceline and get a bargain on a hotel there and for some reason that didn’t
work so I realized the one hotel was the cheapest one so I trudged the 2 blocks
and got a room there.
I was exhausted. I hadn’t slept much the
night before and I fell into bed and slept a few hours after I let my family
and friends know where I was. I had set up a group text with my brothers and
nephew and friend and I contacted Harmon and assured them all I was all right.
I got up, went to get something to eat
and drink and because I had nothing to sleep in, I bought a few tee shirts and
came back and took a shower and passed out again. I looked up a few places
intending to go get some Texas barbecue the next day. My hotel room was quiet
and comfortable and I got some good rest before I got up, cleaned up and
checked out.
Two doors down I saw a little fried
chicken place. Nothing fancy - just fried chicken. It had to be good because
there was a long line inside so I went in and ordered a couple of pieces and
sat down and enjoyed it before I walked over to the bus station.
It was still packed but I got there
around 1:30 and my bus wasn’t leaving till 7:30 but I had nowhere else to sit
and wait so I did. Thankfully, the Seat Nazi didn’t hassle me and I didn’t have
any problems while waiting.
I asked one
of the customer service agents a few times about my bag and one finally took me
over to the baggage area and lo and behold, there was my suitcase, tagged and
stacked and ready to go on the bus I was going to take. I felt a lot better.
I shouldn’t have. I should have taken my
suitcase with me. But no, I was trusting them to get my bag home with me and I
left it there. This was Friday afternoon.
I met this wonderful lady who was 75
years old and was still working as a nurse. We sat and talked for hours. She
really made the time go by a lot faster. I wished that we had been going in the
same direction, but we weren’t.
I had been rerouted through Shreveport,
Birmingham and Atlanta. I would change buses there and take another bus that
would go south through Georgia and then over to Tallahassee. There, I could
wait 8 hours for the bus to Panama City. I said no, I could call my family and
they would come get me in Tallahassee.
I sent Harmon a text and told him that I
would not be home until 10 p.m. on Sunday. He spoke to our friend and told her
and she said she would be sure to be there to get me.
We got to Shreveport late. We were even
later getting to Jackson, Mississippi. We had to wait there and the bus station
was locked when we got there. Someone opened the door and the restaurant was
closed and there were barely enough seats for us all to sit in. There was
nothing for us to do but just stand around and wait. It was awful. The bathroom
was disgusting.
We got to Birmingham late as well. We
stopped at one place that did have food so we got a good breakfast and of
course, we got to Atlanta late. I missed the bus I was supposed to take and
guess what? My suitcase was not on the bus.
Now when I got to Dallas, they had issued
me a different ticket. I had my luggage tag at that point. I was assured my bag
would make the trip so I wasn’t too worried. It did have a luggage tag on it
with my name and destination. Actually, I had gotten a different ticket in
Tucson, Dallas, Atlanta and Mobile. Somewhere along the line, my luggage tag
went MIA.
However, our bus was late arriving in
Atlanta and I missed my connection by about half an hour. When I spoke to the
ticket agent, she issued a different ticket for me and I was glad because it
got me back to the original route and I would get home at 9 a.m. the next day
instead of 10 p.m. as I had originally been told.
I checked in with Customer Service
again, and I was seated in Priority Boarding. It was at this point that I think
I wasn’t given my luggage tag. She again assured me that my bag would go on to
Panama City and that I shouldn’t worry. I had checked a second bag but did not
trust “special handling” so I kept it close to me.
Two years ago, I took a trip from
Chicago to Savannah, GA with my brother and we were seated in Priority Boarding
in Atlanta to wait for our transfer to the bus to Savannah. The way it is supposed to work is that an
agent is supposed to let the bus driver know that he has Priority riders and
that he is supposed to walk us out to the bus and board us before the rest of
the travelers are boarded.
So we sat there, trusting the agent to get us on the
bus.
However, the agent forgot that we were
there and did not board us and we ended up having to wait 5 hours for the next
bus. We were given a voucher for future travel but we didn’t use it.
So I was leery about being seated there
and I spoke to several of the people working in Customer Service so that I
would not be forgotten again. They all assured me I would not be forgotten and
that they would see to it that I was seated. One even gave me a voucher for a
meal which was nice.
The bus was supposed to leave at 11:35
that evening but it was late. We weren’t informed that our bus was late until after
midnight and we were told it would be another hour before it arrived.
I was
afraid I would not get home when scheduled and I had already contacted my
family to let them know when to expect me. Since my arrival time had been
changed so many times, I was worried, but they assured me they would be there
whenever I got there.
I went to ask the ticket agent about
when another bus would leave in Mobile because I was going to miss the
connecting bus. She gave me some kind of silly reply that did not really
address my question. I noticed the customer service agent who assured me he
would take me to my bus walking off with his meal and when I got back to the
Priority Seating area, they were seating people for my bus! No announcement, no
one had come to get me, if I hadn’t returned when I did, I would have missed my
bus!
I rushed out and told the driver I was
to get Priority Boarding and he said no one had told him I was there and he
told me to go ahead and get on the bus.
We were very late arriving in Mobile, so
once again, I had to sit 6 hours till the next bus. This was Sunday morning and
I had been traveling since Wednesday afternoon.
And no, my bag was not on the
bus when I got to Mobile.
I got to Panama City Sunday afternoon
about 4:30. Yes, we were late. And what amazed me was that the driver stopped
at a convenience store not 5 minutes from the bus station.
When we got there, I went to get my
carryon bag. When we left Mobile, he was the one who insisted I put that bag
under the bus and had asked to see the luggage tag on the bag. I showed it to
him and he had the bag put on the bus.
But when I got to Panama City, I didn’t
see my bag. I asked about my bag because it hadn’t been taken off the bus.
The
driver said it must not have been on the bus and I insisted that it was. It was
on the other side of the bus and the driver demanded a luggage tag. I reminded
him that he had seen my bag in Mobile and that it was tagged with my
destination and name and he allowed me to claim it with my ID.
I asked the ticket agent in Panama City
if he had a bag there that had not been claimed. As I said, the bus station
there closes for a while in the afternoon and he was ready to leave and didn’t
want to take the time to look for my bag.
By then I was tired and frustrated and I
just wanted to get my bag and go home. You see, Blountstown is about 40 miles
from Panama City and I don’t have a car so I didn’t want to have to ask someone
to make a second trip for me to get my second bag.
He was not willing to even listen to me,
but said if I didn’t have a luggage tag, he couldn’t look for it. I kept
telling him he needed to stop and listen and he did but it was clear he was
angry and didn’t want to entertain me.
He made a half-hearted attempt to look
for it but I told him that I had been re-ticketed so many times that I didn’t
have a luggage tag anymore. He couldn’t find my name in the system and I
realized he wasn’t really going to look for me. I left my name and number and
what the bag looked like and asked him to call me.
I have called a few times in the 10 days
since I got home. The agent said that things were slowly coming in from that
direction and he hoped my bag would still arrive. But in order to fill out a lost
suitcase claim, I have to go to Panama City so I will have to make a second
trip anyway. So far, my suitcase, marked “Special Handling” is still missing.
To put it briefly, this was a nightmare
of a trip. I really do understand about rerouting me because of the hurricane.
I know the roads were flooded and that my route would have taken me right
through areas that were hit hard with floods and wind. But I still think things
could have been handled a lot better.
There were a few bus drivers who just
didn’t seem to care that we were late and that we were going to miss
connections because of it. That really made me angry. I have been with drivers
who hate being late and really do their best to get us there as close to the
original time as they can. Not these drivers. They just moseyed along and took
longer times at the rest stops and caused a lot of us to miss our next bus.
I wrote a letter to Greyhound after I
got home. I don’t expect to hear much from them.
I am not sure if I will take Greyhound
again. I think this was the final straw for me.
All I want now is my suitcase.
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