Slog
News & ArtsSaturday, September 1, 2012
2012 The Longest Distance Between Two Points
Posted by Paul Constant on Sat, Sep 1, 2012 at 7:11 PM
If you're looking for the opposite of the Republican National Convention, you can't do much better then taking a Greyhound overnight from Tampa to Charlotte. It's cheap, it's small-scale, and it's exactly the opposite of exclusive—older white men and the wealthy are nowhere to be seen. There are a lot of single moms, and as opposed to the white-collar criminals you'll find at the RNC, the ex-cons on a Greyhound have actually done time in real prisons. The Greyhound station in Atlanta, in fact, is directly across the street from the Department of Corrections. This morning, a shrieking woman left the Department of Corrections and started to walk toward the Greyhound station ("EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE") until she was intercepted by a screaming man ("AAAAHHH! AAAAAGGHH! AAAAAAAAAARGHAGGGH!"). They then walked down the street, away from the Greyhound station, screaming together (EEEEEEAAARGH! EEEEEEAAARGH!").
So far as Greyhound is concerned, Atlanta is directly between Tampa and Charlotte. It's where they stick you on a layover for an hour or three as you wait for your connection to come in. Before I started my 17-hour trek, I suspected that I wouldn't hear anything about politics at all. I was wrong; everyone was talking about Clint Eastwood and the empty chair where Obama was supposed to be. They thought it was fucking hilarious. The TV stations in the bus terminals were showing CNN, which was apparently running footage of Eastwood's chair interview on a 24-hour loop, with Anderson Cooper smirking at it last night, and the Saturday morning news host presenting it straight-facedly this morning. And when my bus was leaving South Carolina, the people sitting around me couldn't believe the billboard they saw, with an Obama head poorly Photoshopped onto the body of a baseball player. The sign warned us that Obama now had three strikes against him—no hope, no jobs, no something else I didn't catch. "Look at that shit," the man in the seat in front of me said. "Look what they're saying about Obama." The billboard pissed everyone off.
I have no idea how the DNC will go, but I can tell you that the speakers at the RNC did not mention the people on these buses even once. They don't care about Greyhound riders. They don't give a shit about the man who had his license suspended in Florida and was desperately trying to get to New York to get a job as a driver before electronic news of his suspension made it up to NYC. ("I'm 66. It's not like I'm going to learn how to do anything else," he told his friend.) They don't care about the homeless or the mentally ill who have no other way of getting from city to city. They don't care about the guy who works in Orlando for Disney theme parks because the money's too good to refuse, even though he commutes by bus once a week to be with his family and girlfriend in Charlotte. This is poverty—the kind of poverty that people like Sean Hannity scoff at—and it's very real.
Yesterday, over lunch in Tampa, I heard a man lecture his wife for what was probably the ten thousandth time. "People who don't have health insurance can still get health care," he said, adding, "doesn't sound like a crisis to me." I wish I could've pulled him out of that air conditioned diner and made him spend almost a day of his life riding to Charlotte with me. If anyone on that bus had an unexpected illness, they would be ruined forever. Some of them probably are already thousands of dollars in debt because of cancer, or a broken bone, or a difficult pregnancy.
So, no: I would not recommend riding a Greyhound to anyone. I did it a lot when I was a lovesick kid in Maine and the woman I loved lived in Boston. And I took the bus everywhere when I was younger—Memphis, Colorado, Vermont, New York, D.C. But post-9/11 security theater has even hit buses—you get wanded for metal weapons every time you board a bus, and they make you stand there while they put on rubber gloves and go through every pocket of your bags—and the routing seems even more convoluted and inconvenient than it was a decade ago. But the point is that most people don't have a choice. They use Greyhound because they have to. And they don't have a choice but to live paycheck to paycheck. And that's something that the Republicans I listened to all week simply don't understand. Or, worse, they simply don't give a shit.
1
And of course the RNC didn't give a shit about the poor. They have nothing they want.
3
6
7
You could have gotten on the Silver Star at 5:15pm, had a good night's rest, spent a few delightful hours in Cary, NC before boarding the Piedmont, and arrivistes in Charlotte at 3pm or so.
Speaking of Charlotte, where are they putting you up? The Salvation Army?
11
13
By the way, next time save air (and bus fare) and jump on the 150 any night to Kent Station..or during the morning when court is in session at the Norm Maling Justice Center.
14
Thank you for asking.
Admittedly, you'll have to click for a while to find the ones targeted to help the poor. The obvious ones there are probably health care, especially Medicaid; student aid; and payroll tax cuts and unemployment insurance.
whaaaaaaa......
it seems a Democrap president and Democrap super majorities in both houses of congress for two years just couldn't be bothered with the 'poor'....
20
22
Of course, the Seattle Greyhound station itself is like a temple to human misery.
25
@13: what would you suggest that Pres. Obama could have done for the poor? keep in mind the GOP policy of complete obstruction of democratic legislation, and tell me what would have been realistic and how it would have passed. welfare is already punitive, not a 'free ride', thanks to the last time a democratic president collaborated with a GOP congress.
and max, here's what he could have done. he could have ended the m.f. filibuster on DAY ONE, then passed single payer on day two, then a real stimulus on day three. then raise taxes on the wealthy to pay for debts and restore finances of medicare on day four. then on day five he coul dhave started a god damned WPA JOBS program. that's what he could have done, with a few stadiums full of cheering folks from the 20 million unemployed, plus explaining to middle america and small business: we are putting money in the pockets of your customers, they will spend it and boost your profits, we will follow the course laid by FDR in ww2 only no war. day six, green energy stimulus akin to ww2 techno development, day seven prosecute the banks and restore glass seagal. we had majorities. he was too afraid and too deferential to use them.
Ha ha ha, another moron who wishes Obama was a socialist instead of a sensible centrist where most Americans are.
The most amazing thing was how people took it. There were plenty of "well, this sucks" and "fuck greyhound" and everything... but I've seen people flip out for far less when their flight is delayed for 2 hours on the way to Europe. The people on the bus seemed like they were just used to getting a raw deal.
32
Boltbus is owned by Greyhound.
Took a bus from Houston to Dallas. Stopped in Hunsville, fresh ex-cons climbed aboard. Flat tire two hours from Dallas and we waited hours for the on call on tow truck contractor because they won't send another bus if you're more than 100 miles out. Me and the ex-cons foun the spare behind the front bumper (who would have guessed?) after the neither the bus driver nor the tow truck driver could find it. Got to Dallas like 7 hours late, then gave my refund to an ex-con because hey, it was the middle of the night in Dallas and he's an ex-con.
Yes always good to hear what happens after a life of poor choices, bad decisions and personal irresponsibility. When I did my youthful cross country Greyhound tour, I quickly realized I'd need to work hard and be responsible or else in 20 years I might still be riding the bus contemplating robbing a naive journalist who is one blog posting away from a good mugging.
That's what happens when u live a productive life.
36
Just remember: the President proposes, Congress disposes.
which is why the last time we had a balanced budget it was thanks to Gingrich and the GOP House.
It was rather awful in a lot of respects, but I appreciate the experience nonetheless.
Oh, and Cleveland has the worst bus station by leaps and bounds.
39
Advertisement
Most Commented on Slog
-
Portland Voters Are Stoopid by Goldy
-
An I-5 Bridge Over the Skagit River Has Collapsed by Paul Constant
-
Why They Break Windows by Unpaid Intern
-
Usually When I'm Sent a Photoshopped Image of a Gun Pointed At Me... by Dan Savage
-
Did You Steal Our Unpaid Intern's Camera? by Goldy
-
The Only Thing More Tragic than a Bridge Collapse Would Be a 10 Cent a Gallon Increase in the Gas Tax by Goldy
-
Tornado Truthers by Dan Savage
-
Star Trek Releases Deleted Scene of Benedict Cumberbatch Showering to Counter Claims of Sexism by Cienna Madrid
-
Boy Scouts Lift Ban on Gay Members by Paul Constant
-
SL Letter of the Day: Not A Prude... And Not Just Not That... by Dan Savage
Stranger Personals
The Stranger
RSSSeattle Art & Performance Quarterly
A complete guide to Seattle's current art, film, dance, and theater season.
Facebook
Twitter
Comments (39) RSS