Grey Hound Rant

[DeadBurgerKing (10)]

(Insert from my recent blog. Be forewarned, I was incredibly angry in this blog, so there's an excessive amount of 'f word' usage.)

DBK Rant Vol. 5: Grey Hound

So, I make plans to go to Chicago for the weekend of the 13th. Due to technical difficulties I wasn't actually able to leave until the 15th. So Joni and I get to the bus depot in Ann Arbor. We wait. Then when the bus actually does arrive the driver says the fucking lift doesn't work. Now this IS bullshit. Considering the fact that I have to call up and reserve a bus with a lift in advance. Now, Grey Hound should have made

sure that the bus was in working order if it was reserved. If someone reserves the bus someone should, I dunno, maybe double check the fucking lift, right? So, the worker at the depot calls and tries to get another bus with a lift to get me to Chicago. He tries to

no avail unfortunately. So, pissed and upset we head back to my home, we make it to Brighton (10 minutes from my house) when I receive a phone call from Grey Hound saying they can have another bus in Ann Arbor at 7 pm. It's 6pm. We're in BRIGHTON!! Now for those that don't know, Ann Arbor is about 45 minutes away. We had just drove 45 minutes to Brighton, now we have to turn around and drive 45 more minutes. What the fuck??

Ok, that shits over. I make it to Chicago. I have a blast. A week goes by and I have to go home. This is where it gets fun!! The return trip bus' driver is the same driver that told me the lift was broken previously. I don't mind this. It's in the past and probably not his fault. I wasn't going to hold THAT against him. I didn't feel that hating this guy for that would be appropiate. Until the fucker had the fucking nerve to give a sigh/groan of disgust at the realization that he has a cripple for a passenger. That's right! He gets off the bus, looks at me and exhales in disgust. THAT's when I realized, I don't think the bus' lift wasn't actually broken, this guy just doesn't like having to do 'extra work'. Now, I'm a pretty forgiving guy, so I let that slide and maintain my optimistic attitude towards this venture home.

He get's the lift out, lifts me into the bus, puts the lift away then gets on the bus to secure me down to the floor. One by one he puts these straps on my wheels until 3 of four straps are on, then he turns and starts walking away. I question this possibly hazardous situation:

"Ummm, driver? Only 3 of my wheels are strapped down..." He responds:

"Sir, I've been driving for (blah blah) years now. I know what I'm doing." Not in the mood for a debate I decide 'fuck it' and grab the cd player and pop in some guttermouth.

About three hours pass and we pull into a truck stop which consists of 3 fast food joints and a gas station. the bus driver stands up to announce that we're taking a 15 minute break...

"So go to the bathroom, get something to eat and have a smoke..."

So the driver exits the bus first. I think that he just went to prepare the lift. Then everyone exits the bus. Oh, well that makes sense, right? He wants everyone off the bus first that way he has more room to operate. FUCK NO!! 15 minutes later EVERYONE is back on the bus THEN the driver gets back on the bus and starts FUCKING DRIVING OUT OF THE STOP!!! Can you fucking believe that fucking shit?! Ok, beyond annoyed at this point I raise my hand and shout:

"HEY DRIVER?! WHEN DO I GET MY 15 MINUTE BREAK?!" Had allready pulled out of the driveway and on the road, he tries to save himself :

"Sir, I didn't forget about you." Then attempts a U-turn, in the middle of the fucking road IN A FUCKING BUS!! Which isn't a u-turn, it's more like a left turn, stop,reverse right,stop, forward left,stop, reverse right, stop, forward left, then forward. Then he pulls back into the truck stop and then pulls up to a wheelchair ramp as if he actually didn't forget about me. BULL-FUCKING-SHIT!! If he really didn't forget about me, he would've pulled up to the wheelchair ramp TO BEGIN WITH!! Ok, FUCK THIS, I'm not letting ANYONE walk all over me ( figurtively speaking). Lucky for me this driver takes it upon himself to escort me. Now, I should be worried about the fact that my luggage is on the bus along with around 20 people unsupervised. Naw, because I KNOW that the driver is not supposed to leave the area of the bus while the passengers are on it, so if anything happened to my stuff, I can legally hold him responsible.So, with the driver in tow, this is where I seek my vengeance. First stop, bathroom.

I get to the bathroom, I go to the last stall and prepare myself for bladder release when I hear the driver impatiently tapping his feet on the tile floor. This is like music to my ears. So I decide I need 10 minutes to go to the bathroom, though I was done 9 minutes ago, I just couldn't help but take in the beautifully cordinated sounds of impatient tapping of feet on a tile floor and impatient groans. Next stop, food.

Now, there are three fast food joints here. A generic resteraunt, Popeye's and a Burger King. Now, can you guess what one I chose?

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Yup, that's right, Burger King. But not because it's Burger King, but because it was the BUSIEST of the three! So, we wait in line as the driver kept groaning and looking to his watch. 10-15 minutes later, we reach the cashier. What, oh what do I want?

"What's this 'Manager's Special' you have advertised?" I listen to the cashier's highly detailed and informed answer knowing damn well what it is. I mean the damn poster describes it rather well.

"Oh, no I don't want that. What's an 'Angus Burger'?" Again he explains it to me when I have seen the 1,000 commercials advertising it that they have running on t.v. So, knowing all along what I wanted I reply:

"I'll take three cheeseburgers, no pickles." So, another 5-10 minutes I get my food. Relieved, the driver starts walking to the door. He opens it when I realize it's going to be another 3 hours before we get to Ann Arbor. I better have a fucking cigarette!! So I light up as soon as I'm outside. I had to bite my tongue from laughing when they driver let out thee most aggrivated growl.

"Sir, we running late allready, we need to go." He says to me after I light my cigarette.

"But, had you not forgoten about me and let me have a 15 minute break with the rest of the passengers instead of making me have my own break seperately we WOULDN'T be running late, now would we?" When in actuality we would be considering how long we took, but fortunatly he was too much of a fucking idiot to rebuddle, either that or my comment caught him off gaurd.

So, I finish my cigarette. Driver gets the lift out. I get on the bus. He has the fucking nerve to ask a passenger sitting next to me to strap me in!! A completely fucking innocent bystander!! Now, most know how I feel about asking for help from my good friends let alone a complete stranger, with the exception of those who get paid for helping me, like this driver, who probably gets paid like, 14 bucks an hour. Ontop of that, this guy doesn't know what he's doing!! How could he?! HE DOESN'T GET PAID TO FUCKING STRAP PEOPLE DOWN TO THE FUCKING FLOOR OF A FUCKING BUS!! The driver decides to cut his workload down by walking this guy through strapping my wheels down. I decide 'fuck it' as I look at the fourth strap loose and dangling on the floor. I had my revenge. So, I stick my burgers in my backpack. I wasn't hungry at all, I'll just save them for later.

We make it back to Ann Arbor at 10pm. I get off the bus and sit in front of the depot for Joni to pick me up. But because of unavoidable circumstances, Joni wasn't able to show up until 10:30. Now get this, the bus was NOT able to leave until Joni got there!! The driver couldn't get the bus to start!! He was stuck there for the half hour that I was there!! Then as SOON as Joni shows up, the bus starts!! He COULD NOT get the bus to start!! Then Joni shows up, it starts!! Tell me that's not kar-fucking-ma!! I dare you!! Hahaha!!

[Reaper]

LOL, that was great! Love seeing when that shit comes back in that way. You did good on either teaching him a valuable lesson in customer service, or you annoying the hell out of him. heh

[Msterbeau]

Greyhound is the suck. Carla took it in December to come visit me. What a bunch of idiots.

[DeadBurgerKing (10)]

LOL, that was great! Love seeing when that shit comes back in that way. You did good on either teaching him a valuable lesson in customer service, or you annoying the hell out of him. heh

Greyhound is the suck. Carla took it in December to come visit me. What a bunch of idiots.

Yea, no shit! I plan on calling the customer service today and demanding two round trip tickets (one for me and an assistant being as I'm not going to rely on the driver) for the shit I went through. They WILL give them to me, cause I have grounds to sue them for discrimination...

[Reaper]

Yea, no shit! I plan on calling the customer service today and demanding two round trip tickets (one for me and an assistant being as I'm not going to rely on the driver) for the shit I went through. They WILL give them to me, cause I have grounds to sue them for discrimination...

Yeah I would say you do have grounds. I had to use them a lot when I went from truck job to truck job. I was tired of that busline real quick. Esp when it comes to someone next to you smelling bad or just being an asshole. But that is what you get from a cheap way to travel...attitudes and an unending craving to eat skittles.

[DeadBurgerKing (10)]

Yeah I would say you do have grounds. I had to use them a lot when I went from truck job to truck job. I was tired of that busline real quick. Esp when it comes to someone next to you smelling bad or just being an asshole. But that is what you get from a cheap way to travel...attitudes and an unending craving to eat skittles.

Skittles? That's an odd craving to get traveling on a bus...

[n0Mad]

Take Amtrack next time. Hopefully they'll be better, but who knows.

Awesome strategy to piss the guy off though!

[DeadBurgerKing (10)]

Hehehe thank you!! :D

[BrassFusion]

very nice!! kudos to you-dos!

and the free tickets... if joni can't go, can i come on an adventure? can i can i can i????

[DeadBurgerKing (10)]

Lol, I dunno... Maybe

[Onyx]

I second the recommendation for Amtrak. I took the train all the way from central Florida to Washington DC.

Comfortable trip, fairly good food, professional, competent staff. It actually didn't cost much more than the bus and I got there MUCH faster because they didn't stop at every little town. (Plus there was not a problem with drunks and crackheads).

Glad you had fun in Chicago though!

[Homicidalheathen]

I would turn him in. NO way I would wanna ride there bus again.

Yea, no shit! I plan on calling the customer service today and demanding two round trip tickets (one for me and an assistant being as I'm not going to rely on the driver) for the shit I went through. They WILL give them to me, cause I have grounds to sue them for discrimination...

[Marblez]

I would turn him in. NO way I would wanna ride there bus again.

I would ride it again...a few times. And I would probably giggle every time he looked at me.

[DeadBurgerKing (10)]

I would ride it again...a few times. And I would probably giggle every time he looked at me.

THAT is genious!!

[DeadBurgerKing (10)]

I would turn him in. NO way I would wanna ride there bus again.

Problem with that is he could leave me there...being as I refused...right?

[Dubh Aingeal]

Take Amtrack next time. Hopefully they'll be better, but who knows.

Thats what I took to Chicago twice this year for training. All though I must say it will be a longer trip than what the website/tickets will tell you it is. They have to wait on the freight (as its the priority) traffic. So figure on an added hour to two hours in either direction.

[DeadBurgerKing (10)]

Still, that's better than being treated like shit...

[n0Mad]

I think we should all take a group trip to Chicago and specifically request that driver. Then we'll goth out in our gothiest of goth attire and accessories and just sit in the back of the bus and brood. We don't even have to do anything but sit there and boy would that driver just freak out.

[DeadBurgerKing (10)]

AWESOME!! HAHAHA!!

[know_buddy_kares]

HAHAHAH!!!!!! EXCELENT STORY MAN!!!

Seriously, Grey Hound fucking sucks, I've had problems with them too.

I was here in michigan and like 4 days before i had to go to NC, some stupid bitch wreaked my car, and it couldn't get fixed in time so i was left to take grey hound.

A trip that would have only taken me a 10 hour drive, was schedualed for 24 hours, but then they put me on the wrong bus and i wound up in maryland, then tennessee, then pensilvania, then SOUTH carolina, then finally, north carolina. Along the way at ever fuckin bus station, there were heroine addicts with huge pits in their arms where they stuck about a million needles always beg me for $1.50, or try to sell me cd's and shit. In one of the stations, i had to go to the bathroom, and one of the sinks had a seryng, a hypodermic needle, and a shitload of blood all over the sink. The total time for the trip took 2 and a half days. I've never taken greyhound since.