John and I got to the bus station at about ten after five, as usual. Strangely, though, there was no bus waiting for us. We waiting anxiously for five minutes, and then really started to worry. There was a young woman who'd been waiting when we arrived, and she said she'd been there for about five minutes. Nobody else seemed queued up for the bus, which was pretty weird. Another regular showed up after a little bit, and we tried to figure out what was going on.
John called Bieber Tourways a few times, but couldn't get through to a helpful human. Inside the terminal, I couldn't find a schedule, which might have had better contact information. There aren't any Bieber representatives there, and the "Departures" display didn't indicate whether the bus was late or had already left. Some middle-aged man did ask whether I could spare $4.80, since he didn't have enough to get home to New York, and I gave him a fiver.
Finally, while John was calling Bieber for the fourth or fifth time, the bus showed up. As we waited for the driver (who wsa looking quite grumpy) to get off the bus and let us on, the same man from earlier approached me and asked for $4.80. It was annoying to have it (practically) confirmed that he was lying about needing the money for a ticket, but worse that he couldn't remember that I'd given him money just five minutes ago. I said, "Dude! I just gave you five bucks, five minutes ago!" He replied, unfazed, "I know, but it wasn't enough." I'd like to say that I should have bought him a ticket, but what's do say he wouldn't just return it for cash? It angers me that people behave this way; it just makes me less eager to try and help strangers.
Anyway, we did get on the bus, and the grumpy driver did drive through Philadelphia angrily. It's almost six o'clock and we're not out of Philadelphia, making us about a half hour late, so far. Hopefully that will decrease, rather than increase, once we're on the pike. It's Gloria's birthday, and I'm taking her out for dinner. Hopefully, a good time will be had by all (or, well, both).
Re:Happens all the time
rjbs on 2006-01-20T04:08:37
Yeah, when I was at Boston U, there was some guy who always hung around near Simmons, between BU and NEU, saying he was a student and needed some cash to deal with a flat. After the first time, it was just amazing that this guy would be there all the time with the same damn story!
