When I left Kansas City, where I grew up, to attend college in a city over 150 miles away, I left behind my sweet friend Meri, who was two years younger than I was; she and I became close friends during my senior year in high school, and before I left for college after a summer of probably too much fun, she promised to come visit me. It took until spring before the right combination of schedules that coincided and Meri's mom agreeing to allow her to ride a Greyhound bus by herself occurred, but finally, the weekend had come that Meri would come to Springfield.
Meri's mom took her to the bus station on a Friday afternoon and put her on a bus headed south; she was to ride it until she got to Joplin, where she would transfer to an eastbound bus and arrive in Springfield around 10:00 that night. I was anxiously awaiting her arrival, but not long before it was time to go to the bus station to pick her up, I got a phone call, and on the line was a sobbing Meri.
"I'm in F-f-f-f-fort S-s-s-s-smith, Arkans-s-s-sas!" she sobbed, "I f-f-f-f-fell as-s-s-sleep and m-m-m-missed my tr-tr-transfer!"
I swear I DID NOT LAUGH at any of this, or at least, not until she safely arrived in Springfield, more than 12 hours later, and I've forgotten how Meri and I spent that (shortened) weekend, but I will never forget her story of waking up in a bus station hundreds of miles beyond where she should have changed buses, then, thanks to the kindness of ticket agents and bus drivers along the way, returned to the original transfer point (successfully changing buses this time) and on to her original destination - me!
Linking up with Ivy at Uncharted for Six Sentence Stories with the prompt "transfer".
Good thing it was before texting. I'm sure her mom would have been freaking out with worry. I like this (seemingly?) autobiographical memoir. I would have laughed, too.
ReplyDeleteIt was such a Meri thing to do, falling asleep and missing her connection!
DeleteCan you imagine how scared she must have been? I wonder if she absolutely refuses to close her eyes (even for a brief moment) while traveling today.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine closing my eyes on a bus at all, but I guess bus travel was safer back in the 70s than it is now.
DeleteWhat a good memory that now you can look back on and laugh. At the time she was probably beside herself with worry and fear.
ReplyDeleteEvery bus driver and ticket agent between Ft. Smith and Springfield knew her story and waved her onto the bus (she didn't have a valid ticket at this point). She became a minor celebrity!
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