"I knew I should've stayed home today!"

Today I experienced for the first time the joys of the Greyhound Bus. Now before you start judging my upbringing, I have traveled by bus before. Just because I'm from a tiny town doesn't mean we took field trips in those stuffy boiling hot school buses. Well lets be honest, we usually took trips in those buses, but sometimes for longer trips we would take coach buses. Today, however, was the first time I ever did it with strangers-- a.k.a I had no one to talk to for five hours and there was a high potential of getting stuck with someone awkward, disgusting or rude. I seem to have no luck with the people I get stuck with while traveling. My history speaks for itself. There was the drunk man who hit on me from Fredericton to Toronto (when I was maybe 16 at the time), the anti-Mormon who yelled at/chastised me from Denver Colorado to Salt Lake City Utah (although honestly he was pretty entertaining and I made sure to wave to him the next day when I saw him protesting downtown). Finally, don't forget the man who licked his hands obsessively from France to Toronto. The worst part was when he shoved those same hands into my candy bag because I was too nice to tell him how much he disgusted me! Bleh! Just thinking about that plane trip makes me feel a bit sick!
Luckily today I managed to come away from the trip unscathed by any horrible incidents with other passengers. In fact, it was completely the opposite. Surprisingly, instead of having an interesting story about the crazy on my bus, I found that no one talked to one another at all. There were no words from the bus driver about stops or arrival times, no hellos from the girl sitting next to me. The only interaction I had all morning was when I asked the girl sitting next to the washroom if she knew if the door shut, she coldly answered that she didn't know and returned to her ipod. I couldn't get the door to shut and no one offered to help me. I found the whole experience very impersonal. At the end of the trip the bus stopped in downtown Toronto, and when I asked the bus driver when we would be going to Yorkdale Mall, he informed me that he had been told he didn't need to go, so he went directly downtown!.. What kind of a business doesn't inform the clients about an important change like deciding to miss a stop!? If the #4 OC Transpo bus decided one day that it could probably skip going through Carleton Campus because no one on the bus looked like a student, people would have a fit!! Anyways, that is my Greyhound rant for the day. It actually didn't make me angry today, it mostly just made me upset because I was stuck downtown with heavy luggage with no idea where to go! Luckily I managed to get to the subway and get to Yorkdale okay, and all is well!
I have to admit, getting to the destination is actually one of my favourite parts about vacations. I've always found that I meet some of the most interesting people while traveling. After a while, being so lonely makes you a little crazy and you start finding yourself talking to strangers when you normally wouldn't. I've always liked traveling alone because it forces me to go out of my comfort zone and I'm always surprised how bold I get with strangers. I guess what I've learned is that the world is a pretty big place filled with lots of different kinds of people, but after awhile of being alone, it forces you to look for similarities between you and other travelers. You start to make connections with just about everyone and suddenly the world is a lot smaller, a lot less scary and much more manageable.
Traveling alone also gives you far to much time to think!
As I was waiting in line for the bus today, I could see people taking seats at the front of the bus. My first thought was that that must mean that the rest of the bus was filling up and I'd have to find an aisle seat next to someone. I got on the bus and realized that there were many seats that were empty and that the people I had originally been looking at, had purposely chosen to sit at the front.
It got me thinking: Does where you sit on the bus say something about who you are?
From the time we were little the back of the bus was always the cool place to be. It was a status symbol. Somehow the back meant that you were cool or it was a reward because you were finally old enough to inherit a seat in the hallowed back seats. They are furthest away from the driver, and during school trips, furthest from teachers and parents. Since it was furthest from authority, we would come early for trips just so we could score it, and it became the place to play truth or dare and other types of secretive games. It occurred to me today that maybe the idea of the back of the bus as 'cool' still continues with some people as they grow up.
Do the rebellious or those 'cool' status seekers naturally flock to the back?
Do the conservative, fuddy duddy (a.k.a people who dress like their parents) people prefer the front? Are they aware of this concept and openly rejecting it by sitting at the front because they have grown and matured?
Lastly, what does this say about me for sitting almost perfectly in the middle of the bus? Does this show that I have trouble choosing between my conservative side and my edgier fun side? Do I have an identity issue? Is this proof of my indecisiveness?
Perhaps this allows for the best possible bus experience all around, because you will likely end up sitting next to someone similar to you. You could even take it a step further! Are you a pretty conservative person who's looking to walk on the wild side of life? No need to go to a club or start sky diving lessons, just sit at the back of the bus and not only experience things in a new way, but you will be presenting yourself to the world in that new way. Don't worry, no one will question the seating, the seating speaks for itself!
I'm not sure if there is room in this bus theory for the crazies. They've never been known to follow societal conventions so its likely that no matter where you sit, or how you decide to portray yourself to the world based on where you sit, you'll always be just like everyone else! How you may ask? You'll have the same chance as every other person of having a crazy man who licks his hands sit next to you! Luckily I've already had that, and there's gotta be a rule somewhere in the universe that says that I can not be subjected to that twice in one lifetime! Looks like I have a lifetime of boring seat companions ahead of me!
-B