Perils of Public Transportation

Posted by Megan Drummond Apr 17, 2008

When my fiancé started culinary school in January, I didn’t leave the house for a month and a half except on weekends when he was home. I dreaded using public transportation that much. I had only used it once before and had a horrible experience.

Here’s the story: When I was working, my mother would pick me up from work in her van. She was going to be out of town all one day so I made arrangements for a ride with the bus. I got off work at 3:00, so the designated pickup time was 3:15. I was just finishing up the project that I was working on when I happened to look up from my computer in time to see the bus pull into the parking lot, never slow down, turn around and leave. It was 2:45.

I thought things would be better this time around. And they were for the first few times I took the bus. Then last week, the dispatcher scheduled me and told me they’d pick me up at one time and told the bus driver an hour later, which caused me to completely miss my appointment. A few days later, they “forgot” to pick me up and then wanted to drop me off at the wrong address, causing me to be 15 minutes late.

Starting today, I am recording all my conversations with them so that I have proof of what they tell me.

If you have trouble like this with your bus company, try doing the same. Also, be sure to tell the driver how to tie down your chair or you may end up with broken pieces. I’ve had that happen, too.

Just use a lot of common sense and you’ll be fine.

Happy riding!