that's the way it is

5:30 bus to DC. I printed out my tickets a few hours before, noticing that I accidentally purchased 2 tickets. On Greyhound, this would have been easily resolved. I have traveled with the wrong date, wrong time, wrong direction tickets at least twice before -- I won't claim that I wasn't nervous about it. I usually start to sweat and fidget and get nervous -- see past blogs, unless I didn't write about that. In that case, see M's brother for details.
I wait in the rain. I ask a fellow Bolt waiter what she thinks I should do about my extra ticket. I buy a $6.00 sandwich that turns out to be just cheese-tomato-alfalfa sprouts on wheat bread leaving me sorely disappointed on the Delaware Memorial Bridge.
The driver lets us all on without checking tickets. I load my SUITCASE (for next week's vacation...I didn't go anywhere this week) onto the bottom of the bus. First time I did that. I walk on, and take a seat. I take two seats. I stand in front of the seat with the outlet. My bag takes the window seat. A man asks if he can get in the window seat -- NO. I look out the window, squint my eyes, and pretend that I am waiting for the person who I said (lied) I am waiting for.
Everyone is seated...so far I told two people that both of my seats were taken. I hope the woman I spoke to earlier in regards to my ticket did not witness my fibbery. Driver calls Bolt to confirm a rider's ticket -- he did print it, but he never retrieved it from the printer.
Driver announces that he will check tickets starting in the back -- before he does that, I get his attention and explain my situation. He said that I could probably get my money back from the company. I would never follow up with that -- so I asked if I could sell my ticket to a standby person -- or I would just use my ticket and take two seats. He said “we’ll see what happens.” I decide that I will take the two seats, because I paid for two seats. Let the standbys wait for the next bus.
The man in the aisle seat across from me tells the Driver that he doesn't have a ticket. He needs to buy one...and he is already on the bus. Other stand-bys are waiting outside. This would not have happened if the tickets were checked earlier, but I try to make it work to my advantage. I interrupt. I was eavesdropping but this time it paid off. Paid off in FACE VALUE! I ask the driver if I can sell my ticket to this man. A blind eye turned and money is exchanged. I don't want to set a bad example -- scalping Bolt tickets, well...just ask Randy Cohen. He'll tell you not to do it.
TIme goes on; the driver checks the tickets of me and my new friend.
Standby's get on. My seatmmate had a function to get to -- had a black dress with her. She enjoys using wireless internet, reading and writing about climate change, and watching the movie.
Driver tells us to not remove our shoes, as this is against the DOT rules.
The movie -- I forgot the name, but it has Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. (ed. Mr. and Mrs. Smith- massive marketing campaigns do not affect L)
I watch the Ice Storm. I love the Ice Storm. It rained outside the bus, it added to the movie experience.I read. I texted. I looked around.
Bus arrives quite late. I have to crawl into the bottom of the bus to get my suitcase. I am happy that I remembered to get it. I take a cab to M's. It was a legit cab with a meter. No love is lost between the driver and I.
Bus to NY. The line snakes around a building. People are filling out surveys. I want one, bad. M goes in search of one. He returns with survey and a pen. The survey was never collected at the end of the trip. I answered every question. I am neutral on the usefulness of the foot rests but am first on bus! I recognize my seat mate from the TO DC bus. She recognizes me, I believe. She couldn't find her ipod in her apartment on Friday morning. It may be lost. She does not have a book. She texts to pass the time. Then -- and this is unbelievable. I took cell-phone photos and video as proof -- The driver announces that his #1 choice of movie would not be able to be shown --- not everyone was over 18. A child is on the bus. What happens because of this child gives me yet another reason to want children banned on coach buses.
He puts on a DVD of Celine Dion Videos. There is a collective groan. For my opinion, look at my rating on Netflix. Or you can continue reading. I could not stop watching. I somehow knew every song. My seatmate was shocked that this could be happening. We talked about it at length. She also knew the songs. We commented on the videos and live concert footage. I had a newspaper, a magazine, two books, and a DVD player with a disc of House inside. But my eyes were glued. I recognized songs from several movies.
An elderly woman in the seat in front of me totters to the bathroom. She comes back. No toilet paper. She tells the driver. She wants a rest-stop, now. A vote was taken in which the will of the group was to keep driving. The woman yells that this is not a democracy. The driver eventually submits and we stop at a rest-stop. We continue to NY. The Driver says that he will show us one more video. What a jokester. Saw an ad for MegaBus on the R train.