There was a new bus driver. Apparently he was very new because he didn’t exactly know the route and took us on an unbelievable detour. One of my fellow passengers even questioned the driver about it but was quietly told something something construction and that if she wanted to get off right in the middle of nowhere that was fine.
When we got close to my stop I pulled the cord. There was no “ding!” The indicator light didn’t come on. The friendly bass baritone voice that says, “Stop requested. Please remain seated until the bus comes to a complete stop” didn’t come on. I walked up to the front.
“That’s my stop at the corner,” I told the driver.
He looked up from a pile of papers in his lap that may or may not have been the bus route.
“Good thing I was paying attention!” he said.
Yeah, good thing.
That in itself might make an interesting story but what was really interesting–and what might have made me miss my stop is that someone decided that on this particular day the riders in my route should get a double bus instead of one of the usual singles.
To those in the UK and other aliens: we don’t have double-decker buses here. Well, we didn’t. We have them now for tour groups, but that’s another story. Instead of double-decker buses someone had the harebrained idea to smash two buses together end-to-end. And like most harebrained ideas the result is actually kind of cool.
It’s Nashville, Jake, so of course the seats have a musical theme. Can anyone out there recognize the tune?
Wow – are you sure that guy wasn’t some lunatic who stole a bus for the hell of it? In the UK, we do have those double length buses in some cities – we call them ‘bendy buses’ . Sorry, can’t help with the tune, I just tried to sing it and it sounded like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star but that may be because I don’t read music.
That’s perfect–“bendy buses”. I’m going to start calling the double-length buses that.
And it might have been some lunatic who stole the bus. Weirder things have happened.
Interesting story. That would have hd me on edge for a bit. Knowing the beaurocrats lack of common sense, I wouldn’t be be surprised if it was “New York, New York.”
Funny enough I overheard someone say, “Nashville reminds me of New York thirty years ago.” That was thirty years ago. We haven’t quite turned into New York yet but at the rate the city is growing it could still happen.
Why don’t you have a “like” button to click?
That is a really good question and I wish I had a good answer but really I’m just not very technically savvy. However a little digging uncovered it. Will you do me the honor of my first like?
Yay me! I’m officially your “first”. O.K. That was creepy.
It’s like a giant slinky–I wonder if it can go downstairs?!
Now I really want to get some giant stairs and try that. Nashville doesn’t have too many steep hills, though, which would be the closest thing, and the buses seem to avoid the steep hills.
Accordion bus! I don’t know why, but I always love riding those. I snag a seat in the swivel section if I can manage it and it’s kind of like being on a really really crappy version of the teacups at Disney.
I tried standing up in the swivel section but the driver yelled at me. And I kept falling over. On an unrelated note Opryland had a version of the teacup ride that put Disney’s to shame. It was in a dome-shaped building and the floor tilted and spun while multi-colored lights flashed around the walls.
It was pretty much guaranteed to induce vomiting and possibly seizures.