I am in a really bad mood. The other day I went down to New York to visit one of my friends after he had just gotten off of work. The plan was for me to take a bus down to Penn Station, meet up with him, grab some dinner at a nice Mexican restaurant in Manhattan and grab drinks at a bar afterwards. Since we were going to rendezvous at seven, I logically bought a ticket for the bus leaving South Station at three in the afternoon. I was standing in line to grab my pre-purchased ticket from the ticket booth at 2:45. You would think that I had plenty of time. I was in for an unwanted educational experience on the efficiency of our subsidized bus industry.
For fifteen whole minutes I stood in a line which wasn’t that long to begin with to pick up my Peter Pan bus ticket. The line dragged along like a snail as the brain-dead subsidized drones behind the counter took minute after minute to take care of trivial requests. On top of that, there were four of them and they would still only serve one customer at a time. I started counting down minute after minute, realizing that I might not make the bus in time with all the stalling. 3:00 rolls around. I finally get up to the booth. I toss the lady my reservation and emphasize that I’m running late. She gives me my ticket not a moment too soon.
I dash as fast as I can up to the bus terminal. It’s already 3:08! I see a long line of people, which I assumed to be waiting for the 3:30 departure and outside a bus backing out of its spot. Thinking it was my bus, I push open the door and run toward the bus, waving my ticket hastily in the air. The bus driver angrily shoes me away and the security guard directs me to go back inside. Turns out the 3:00 had already left – I missed it – and the bus that I had gone after was the 3:30 just pulling into the right position. The entire station is given an announcement reminding them not to run out into the lot before boarding time. The driver must have been asking himself “who is this crazy fool?”
So I ended up getting on the 3:30 bus to leave a half hour later than originally planned. I call my friend on my cell thinking its no big deal and that my troubles are over. It was then that the driver told us that he “liked to drive slow.” And I soon saw what he meant. On top of that, the sun went down early and my light was broken so I couldn’t read my book. I asked around to see if anyone wanted to switch seats and finally find a nice lady who would. Anyhow, I was scheduled to get into the New York at 7:30. Thanks to this guy who likes to drive slow I get in at 9:30! I had also not eaten since the morning to save room for the delicious Mexican food I was planning on having. Of course, my friend couldn’t hold the time for that long so that didn’t happen. My ticket confirmation guaranteed a 7:30 arrival. I should have gotten a refund.
Well, being a free market guy, I didn’t like subsidies much before, but after this experience, its not just political. Its personal. These Big Government bus bureaucracies are getting between me and my friends and my Mexican food. If the government were not bailing out and subsidizing industries like these, we might just get some good competitive service around here. No more slow lines, slow drivers or broken lights. Shape up or you lose customers and go out of business! That’s the American way!
Never mind, those won’t be around for long: Cities Going Bankrupt and anyhow all hell will break loose 2010. Of Mortgage Brokers, ARMs, Attrition and Marathons
Sympathies to ‘Pure Common Sense’, it coold be worse, you good be living in London.
The Buses are red double decked with asians mothers, who know jibber and jabber, worst than calcuta in india. Its shortest journey, 1stop, cost 2 pounds, about 3.20 greenbacks. Longer journeys are still 2 pounds. The bus drivers will cut you up, even
when your passing the angel at askew road. Never one bus a time, London miss-invented convey buses, and joked about it for at least 50 years. Its snowing in London.
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