A Bus Ride to Remember

There is just something about the gentle hum of a 1970's diesel motor that knocks me right out… at least I hope it's the hum and not the fumes… either way I was jarred out of my restful slumber when the bus driver said something about this ride being a real trip. I opened my eyes and tried to digest the scene around me. We were in the middle of a snow storm – in Spring! There was already an inch plus of snow on the ground and cars were strewn about the highway (and the ditch) warning others to drive slower than they had. I thought to myself, “Did I accidentally catch a bus headed for Canada?” It was really the only logically answer I had to offer myself.

All of the passengers shared in this sense of danger and adventure. For the first time we all started talking to each other. One lady was holding up a loaf of bread and yelling in a thick Mexican accent, “ees OK, Iye have food foyr everyone if we geyt stuck!”. She proceeded to ask the bus driver if we could go through the nearby coffee stand for some nice warm espresso. We laughed (though I was secretly hoping he would say yes and miraculously maneuver the bus through the tiny drive–through).

As our fearless leader/bus driver blazed a trail through the blizzard*, everyone leaned forward in unison letting him know that we had his back. Then something caught our eyes – big bright red brake lights, lots of them. I could feel gravity and momentum mixing together as they cooked up a recipe for disaster. The books and magazines were placed on their perspective owner's laps, the headphones hung lifelessly from the necks of their once solely occupied audience. This was it! Had I told Kelley that I loved her before I left? Were there enough photos (of my good side) in our family albums for me to be remembered by? Did I have clean underwear on?

Well, of course the bus slowed down in time and of course nobody died. No one even fell out of their seat. Then, just like that, it began to rain. It melted away the snow right along with our camaraderie. The roads cleared up but our bond of friendship was broken. Everyone went back to their isolated state of bus–travel–mode. Come back my friends! We had something straight out of a movie. Like Speed meets The Day After Tomorrow. I was about to go back to sleep but then the bus driver looked over and said, “that sure was craaaaazy”. “You talkin' to me?” I thought. Are bus drivers allowed to talk to the passengers? Of all the people on the bus this guy is probably the one that craves human conversation the most. He has to sit there, driving people all around in complete and utter silence. So we talked the whole way there, and the way back. Yesterday he gave me a few of his favorite mints to try. They were licorice and quite tasty.

Before I got off the bus he asked me if we were friends. Well, since I already accepted candy from him I said that we were at least more than strangers, and yes, we were friends.

I guess you never know when a random act of nature will bring random people together and create random friendships. Maybe it's not so random after all.

* by blizzard we do not mean an actual heavy and prolonged snowstorm covering a wide area, but has been used as an overstatement to build dramatic effect