Chinatown bus, reprise

First, a quick observation on riding public transportation. Notice, that they seat people facing each other (e.g. on subway trains). Thus, you are not allowed to look straight ahead. You must glance askance, or face looking like someone who has homocidal tendencies.

So, I returned to NYC from Boston today on the Chinatown bus. That bus sells out FAST! Especially the early ones. I don't quite understand why the earliest ones (7am and 8am) always are the first to sell out. It's times that when I ride a bus line run by people who speak Cantonese that make me wish I could speak Cantonese - because otherwise, nobody understands anything.

I actually went to the station at 6:30 AM to see if I could get on the 7:00 AM (despite the web site saying it was sold out). Apparently, it was sold out, but I was able to make it on the 8:00 AM. It was kind of good, it gave me time to hang out with my peoples (the catch was everyone spoke Cantonese).

Once we got underway, I had an unfortunate discovery. Apparently Chinatown buses have no air conditioning (or if they do, they don't work, they don't turn them on, or they don't know how to work it). If they still make vehicles without air conditioning these days, we Chinese people will find them to save $50 on the car.

Even though this time, the trip only took four and a half hours instead of the six it took going to Boston, it felt like longer because it was deathly hot. It was a good 95-100 degrees in the bus, and humid. I thought I was going to pass out. It didn't help that I was sitting next to the one woman on the bus that had a butt the size of a cow and who insisted on draping a wool blanket over her head (which means I got a double dose of heat, coming from outside and from next to her!). She also had bowel problems and we had to make an extra stop for her, wasting precious time and keeping us all sweltering longer.

I did quite enjoy Boston, but I am actually glad to be back in NYC. I guess I'm used to it. However, I know now to only go to Boston between the months of September and May on the Chinatown bus.