People Watching

We got some good people watching in on Friday night. San Diego may be known as America's Finest City, but someone certainly wouldn't know it if they were arriving by Greyhound Bus. I've made a few trips down there over the years and it certainly hasn't changed much. There are still bums hanging out on the street corners, and it seems like there's always some kind of construction going on down there. This time it looks like they are remodeling the Pickwick hotel next door. The scaffolding and construction mess only add to the decrepit look and feel of the place.

The type of crowd that rides the bus instead of taking a plane is quite different. Most of the crowd seemed like hard working, worn-out men who looked like they were exhausted. There were several families with mis-matched luggage and then there was my favorite one.... an older woman, traveling alone. I swear to you she must've had at least 10 pieces of luggage. At first I thought I was mistaken. I was sure there were kids in the bathroom or a husband off getting some dinner. But I never saw anyone else with her.

I believe you get to check two bags. She had two of the hugest suitcases I have ever seen. Then she had a duffle bag, and at least four large canvas bags, and four of those mylar looking bags that you can put groceries in to keep them cool. When it came time to board the bus she took her checked luggage and left the rest. I started to wonder if she was just abandoning everything else. After she found her seat on the bus, she made trip after trip out to pick up more and more of the bags. I was absolutely fascinated watching her. I was dying to know where she was going to stow all of the stuff. I guess riding a bus is not like riding an airplane. She stowed her stuff all over that bus. I'm thinking it's probably a good thing that the rest of the passengers packed lightly.

I was kind of hoping her journey would follow along with Rick's so that he could update me on her progress, but they parted ways in Phoenix. I guess I'll never know where she was going and how she got all that crap off the bus.