Taking the bus instead of an airplane? You're poor ...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070605/us_nm/usa_poor_greyhound_dc;_ylt=AluMYYmLqPSNLM.zkCFwatYXIr0F

 

Well, economically speaking, it is an inferior good.

 

good idea for a story, but kind of fizzled out

 

So are Ramen noodles.

 

And I'm guessing that if you have a little money, you ain't eatin' Ramen noodles, right?

 

Ding. (I got an A in Econ 101.)

 

I rode some buses home in college. No experience on Earth replicates hell quite as well.

 

The world yearns for Bubbler's tales from the back of the Greyhound...

 

Greyhound is the cheapest form of travel in the country. You will be introduced to lowlifes and frustration but there are many people who need Greyhound. The buslines are the only links that many towns have to the outside world.
In many smaller towns in Georgia and other states, Greyound cut out routes, basically isolating those towns.

 

Taking a bus might not be as fast or comfortable as a plane (and correct me if I'm wrong) but no one claims buses to be glamorous whether in the durrrty south or anywhere for that matter.

I really don't have any room to talk, because my happy ass isn't published on Yahoo, but I just couldn't follow this story with enthusiasm. There's not enough information about any of the passengers mentioned to get a feeling for who they really are.

I'm sure the writer heard more but just didn't put it in the story, although I get the feeling the writer doesn't look at the opportunity the same way I do.

If I were going to do a piece like this (and this is just me), I'd want to use more of the "life stories" I learned from the people along the way. I think I'd have more fun with doing a story that leaned a little more towards the difference in flying and taking a bus.

On a plane no one wants to speak to one another (it's damn near forbidden) and most people don't give a shit about one another. But on a long bus ride, people are more likely to speak to one another, spill their guts about their lives (which can act as a warning of what not to do as well as make others thankful for what they have) and they can even form somewhat of a trip-long friendship. Depending on how many stories were told along the way, a patron can be left with random stories to tell others.

These would probably start off like "Man I met this dude on a bus one time that...(something interesting goes here).

Instead, with the way this story was written, I was left with the feeling that at one time riding a bus was ok but now it's just discusting, trashy and bitterly ending type of last-resort transportation with a 'Thank God this is over. Another hour and I'd have to shoot myself' kind of feeling.

And I'm also blowing the bus is for poor people bullshit out of the water. Just for the hell of it I priced a Greyhound trip on the same dates that I priced flights for last night to go to Virginia. If I fly to Virginia I'll spend two hours total (round trip) on the plane. If I take a Greyhound, I'd be on the bus for a total of 34 hours (round trip) but it would cost more than the flight. Granted, that is probobly an isolated case, I just thought it was worth mentioning.

 

OMG just ignore my warm and fuzzy moment above.

 

I've taken the bus many times over the years. There's nothing wrong with it.