Missed It By That Much

As I mentioned, we missed our bus from Boston back home, but it sure made for a great story. We landed in Boston way too late to make it home, so we stayed at an Embassy Suites in the city, which for the record was a great hotel. They had the most amazing breakfast buffet. After eating, we had a lot of time, and figured catching the bus at the airport would be no problem, but of course, things got sketchy.

We usually catch the bus at the international terminal, where we stand at the end of the terminal where all the buses stop. When we left the hotel, the shuttle driver said he’d take us to terminal A instead, which is the first stop. We figured why not? Well, the bus actually picked up in a different spot, about 50 feet away, but enough for us to be standing there like idiots while the bus stopped and then took off without us. I ran screaming for him, but he just kept going. We were so bummed, but then hatched a plan.

The bus runs according to a schedule, and the final stop was South Station, the train station. We missed the 11:00AM bus at the airport, but it was departing South Station at 11:30, so we had 30 minutes to get to South Station, which seemed like a piece of cake. We could have caught a cab, but we were flat broke and pressed for time.

There happens to be a bus service that runs through all the terminals and then stops at South Station, and it pulled in within minutes after we missed our bus. Plus, it’s free. Say no more, we jumped on. We figured we had 25 minutes to get to the train station before our bus. No problem.

Well, that darn bus took so long to get there, because not only did it stop at all the terminals, but it made stops in the city, as well. I wanted to scream. At one point, we were stuck at a traffic light for what seemed like an eternity, and then the bus converts to from gas to electric, which took another 5 minutes. By the time we pulled into South Station, we had about 7 minutes.

We bolted out of the bus, ran into the train station, and then had to figure out where the bus picked up. It turns out it was in another building. We took off running, bags in hand, bolting through passengers. It was crazy. When we finally got to the bus terminal, we had to run up two flights of stairs, and then find the bus gate. There are dozens of buses that leave South Station. We asked around and kept running.

When we got to the actual departure gate, the bus was pulling out of the parking space and leaving. I dropped all my bags and chased after him, waving and screaming. The bus driver looked at me and threw up his hands with futility. I wasn’t sure what to make of it, but needless to say, it was a mixture of anger and frustration. What the hell was that all about?

I actually talked to the manager at the bus station and he explained that the situation was out of the driver’s hands. Once he closes the bus doors, he can’t open them again, and once he’s pulled out of the space, he can’t stop, or for that matter, open the doors. Sure, the situation is flawed in that all the stops are not located in the same place, but the airport is a messy place, and things don’t always go smoothly.

I accepted that, what choice did I have? We did learn an important lesson, however, and learned, once again, that like in life, when you travel, things don’t always go according to plan, but it’s not the end of the world, and if anything, it’s usually not such a big deal. There is an important lesson in there.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to bhwkns85 for the pic.