I have a confession. I hate buses. I know, they are an integral component of any complete and efficient public transportation system. I don’t mind shared space, I appreciate not driving, etc.  So you’d think I would like buses. Nuh uh. Can’t stand them. I would rather take three different trains than one direct bus. I would rather pay $150 and suffer TSA than take the $20 dragon express to NYC. Hate hate hate.
Maybe it was an early imprint thing. As a (very small) kid, my mother and I took a bus from Phoenix to Tuscon to see my father (temporarily working at Ft. Huachuca).  In the summer. With no air conditioning. I think I am still probably a little melted around the edges, from that. Or maybe it was the school bus in Germany. Super-luxe buses (tv’s, bathrooms, etc.), but the bus driver was drunk.every.day. As in closing the doors on kids, stopping short, etc. Not really a fun way home.
Anyway, you might think I’m kidding, or trying to be funny. I’m not. Here’s just another reason to not ride the bus:
A man was stabbed to death then beheaded on a Greyhound bus in an apparent random act of violence, according to an eyewitness.
[ . . .]
“He calmly walked up to the front (of the bus) with (the victim’s) head in his hand and the knife and then dropped the head in front of us,” Caton said, adding he believes the suspect later returned to the back of the bus and was seen later “taunting police with the head in his hand out the window.”
Caton said the suspect appeared calm.
“What struck me, it was like he was at the beach or something,” he said.
Stay away from the buses.
Peej
Um. wow. That was gruesome to read.
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I love, love, LOVE buses–I make a point to take at least one bus ride one in any city I’ve been to. Bus surfing (which is made more fun by the short stops that traumatized you!) was a huge part of my early teenage years (and also while taking buses in PV, Mexico, as an adult, incidentally.) I could’ve had a career as a contortionist from riding buses back home (trying to not get squashed by my female copassengers, while attempting to avoid getting pinched/poked/prodded by the male ones spilling over to the women’s section.) My preferred mode of transportation from suburbiahell to NYC is actually the Greyhound commuter buses in the early hours of the morning and then the ones very late at night to come back.I guess I should think twice about that, now. (Not really. I probably worry more just walking around in daylight.)
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Man, that chasm’s growing wider every day…!
MB
Yeah, I should probably have put a warning in there. The news story is likely unexpected.
~
Well, if the chasm gets so big you have to take a bus across it, it’s all up to you. But if it’s bikeable . . .
Amit
you should atleast try the Bolt Bus. free wi-fi all the way to NYC for $20
Plin
I am the exact same way about buses. I never took a bus in Philly–I preferred to walk to the subway station (anywhere between two and five miles) in any kind of weather, and take two subway trains to school. I think I could have ridden a single bus from a stop two or three blocks from my apartment.
Hate buses. I’m pretty sure they’re air-conditioned here now, but I’m waiting for the light rail before I venture onto local public transport.
The only time I ever enjoyed a bus ride was when I was nine, and I rode Greyhound all by myself from St. Louis to Columbia (MO) to visit my sister at college. Your linked story makes me shudder retroactively.
Jimbo
There is really bad Cadel Evans joke in there someplace, but I’m not going to stoop to that level.
MB
At least two, aren’t there? Man.