by Toni Doswell

Created on: September 03, 2007

I don't really call these people strange, as much as I would call them unique.
I ride the Greyhound bus when traveling, most of the time, and it is on the
bus that I find most interesting people when they choose to open up and talk.
One lady from New York shared with me her experience of getting children. She
had procured four children, whom she "adopted" in a sense. She became their

mother simply because the biological mothers were unable to care for them or
didn't want the responsibility.

She told me her technique was to look at a mother who was struggling with more
than one sibling. She would go up to her, and if the mother looked pretty
distressed, she would speak to her about taking one of the children and raising
it. Believe it or not, it worked four times, and this lady had two boys and
two girls whom she was successfully raising. I had never heard of "adopting"
children that way, so I thought that was most unusual.

Another lady I met on the Greyhound bus told me she never worked a day in her
life. She told me there was no need to work in America, because a person can
easily survive here without working. She was on her way to Las Vegas to gamble.
I asked her if she was married, and she said she was. Again, I thought this
was a bold statement, but somehow she had seemed to live up to it.

I have met lots of people this way, some enjoying life, and others truly
troubled. The last young man I met told me the story of his life. He had
just come out of rehab and was going to see his mother. He told me of his
plans and dreams, and certainly I encouraged him to hold fast to those dreams
and goals, and to never give up. He was soon to be a father, and wanted to
be more of a man. I thought this most admirable. I knew, however, that unless
he chose to live over a life of drugs, he would not be able to find himself.
Although he was hardly twenty, his face told his life's story.

I have seen bag ladies tucked neatly in stalls in the Greyhound restrooms sleeping
as best they could. I have met con men coming and asking directions to a place which only the police or postal employees knew existed. I have encountered selfish
people who would get on the bus and try to take other's seats for their own family
members. I have met bus drivers with stories to tell about their travels. I have
met kind people who helped me with my bags, and I have met rude people who chose
to pass right by people struggling with luggage. I think, however, I have met
a lot of people just like me- people who don't like flying, but choose to travel
on land. Well, call that strange- but there are lots of us!

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