Sitting in the Seattle Greyhound Bus Depot waiting for the next connection in this 2 day, 13 hour trip. Out of 2 days 13 hours of travel time, fully 24 hours are layover time! Greyhound has dropped a long way baby, when in its hey days of the 1960s and 70s, travel by bus was an exciting, classy, state of the art adventure. Not so much today. Then: shiney, clean, spacious, double-decker AmeriCruisers. Today: small, dirty, cramped old buses. Then: depots at major American cities took up whole blocks with multi-floor buildings filled with shops and restaurants catering to a travelers every need, and most whims, open 24 hours a day, a small city in their own right. Now: small, one building depots, often with vending machines only, certainly not a decent cup of coffee can be had at most, and the depots themselves usually only open for arrivals and departures. Then: service with a smile, bend over backwards to please the traveling public, the customer is always, always right. Now: mostly surly, uncooperative employees who feel put out when asked questions about schedules, fares, where to obtain food and drink near enough to the depots to make it back in time to the bus. Maybe this is nothing more than a rant by a tired old hobo after 2 days of bus travel, but I think not. No, the glory days of Greyhound Bus Lines are far, far, far behind us. HoboKen HobosAcre
Posted on: Sat, 25 Oct 2014 05:25:23 +0000