If you’ve ever traveled anywhere in a tour bus, it can be fun, depending of course on who you are traveling with and where you’re headed. I’ve experienced tour busses as both passenger and driver. It’s a “what goes on behind the scenes” kind of thing that has some real stories to tell. I’m a people person and I like meeting and interacting with people…some people…sometimes. It’s that “some people, sometimes” that can be a challenge, especially if the bus you’re driving isn’t in tip top shape. I used to drive the North Carolina Symphony to performances around the state. I had to pick them up on the NC State U campus. Some people have trouble parallel parking a car. Try a bus: no backup camera and relying totally on mirrors. I don’t want to disparage such a fine group of musicians, but I did not enjoy being publicly flogged when I was too far from the curb the bus had not been lowered to a particular height for their entrance and egress. And if the restroom was not functioning properly, oh what a stink they made. One trip in particular ended up being my last. I followed a veteran driver to Greenville SC, about a four hour drive (normally) to pick up a youth group to take them on a ski trip to West Virginia. As we were driving on Interstate 85, my luggage compartment door flew open. It was empty so I just kept driving. When we got to Greenville, the lead driver had the wrong address so we drove around the city for awhile, looking for the church. We arrived an hour late. We finally left for West Virginia and had to stop about half way so 80 teenagers could eat some dinner at Chick Filet. That took awhile. We finally arrived at the hotel at 11 PM. I had to clean the bus after they disembarked and got to bed about 1 AM. We had to leave for the ski slope at 8, so at 7 I went out to warm up the bus. There was an inch of ice coating everything. While on I 77 going to the ski mountain, trucks were passing us by and throwing slush on the windshield. It was then that I discovered my windshield wipers didn’t work. The next day we left the ski resort about 4 PM, headed back to Greenville. We dropped the group off about 9 PM and were supposed to stay at a hotel overnight, then drive back to Raleigh the next day. However, the office forgot to make reservations for us, so I was told we would have to continue our drive another 4 hours back to Raleigh. I got home about 3 A.M. And that is why I no longer drive a tour bus. 11/14
