From Knoxville, TN to Durham, NC

This is a true story of a Greyhound Bus ride I took to get home from Tennessee in August 2015.  I only wish I could remember the bus driver's real name.

Command the Stage

The Greyhound Bus I took was quite the trip,

Our female bus driver ran a tight ship!

I sat a few rows from the front, because I felt safer up there,

I was traveling by myself and that was rare,

While boarding, our driver heard a man cursing in line,

“Step aside sir, there will be no profanity on this bus of mine,

Do you want to ride?... then you’d better clean up your act,

I will leave you standing right here", she said without tact,

She made her first announcement as we pulled out of the station,

It was going to be on her terms, definitely not a vacation,

She said: “Put your cellphones on silent”; we could feel her sense of urgency,

“Don’t speak to me while I’m driving unless it is a medical emergency,

“No standing or walking around unless you are using the bathroom,

“Take all of your trash off the bus when you leave; and no lotion or perfume,

Our first stop is Asheville, 125 miles away,

My name is Anita, have a nice day.”

The bus was dead quiet, you could hear a pin drop,

And it stayed that way until the first stop,

“Return to the bus in 15 minutes”, she said with a roar,

“Don’t light up your cigarette until you are far from the bus door”,

In Hickory, NC- passengers got out and a few new ones got in,

Which prompted Anita to give her announcement again,

At each of these stops, the same message was heard,

I could almost repeat it myself, word for word,

Statesville, Winston-Salem, and Greensboro, she announced, with force,

I was feeling very protected by Anita’s need to stay the course,

At some point along the way, someone’s cell phone rang out,

Without hesitation, Anita said with a shout:

 “Is yours the next stop?  Do you want it to be?”

“I will put you off this bus, just wait and see?’

She was a drill Sargent, for sure, in full control,

“You can’t let people walk all over you”, she said, that was her goal,

When you are a bus driver, you have to be tough,

You have to let the passengers know when enough is enough,

So many rules to enforce, it is quite demanding,

Yours is the stage and you must be commanding,

That’s what I learned from my Greyhound bus ride,

If I’m in a bus station, I want Anita by my side!

Tammy Harvey

Written: 4/23/2018