Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Nov. 6, 1980, edition 1 / Page 9
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Feature magazine of Tho Daily Tar Heel ""X v. ' ) r X ' if Thursday, November 6, 1S80 . J a . Xii rf s I it I . I r-t V J v.. By BILL FIELDS Jj hadn't gotten the Greyhound bus 10 miles down the interstate when a pothole interrupted my dozing. ' The bus had left the downtown Richmond, Va., bus terminal at 2:30 p.m. and now moved up Interstate 95 toward Washington, D.C., my next stop. Sitting on an aisle three rows from the front of the bus, I had started napping after a lull in a conversation with Barton, a 26-year-old fellow from Switzerland. My eyes opened, and I smelled foodsalami. "On . the bus?" I thought. "Didn't we leave - the snack bar at the terminal?" I glanced toward the other side of the aisle to see a middle-aged man from Germany I had spoken briefly with him as we waited to leave Richmond pulling out a loaf of 100 percent wheat bread and a package of Oscar Mayer salami. Not one sandwich, but enough food for all 38 passengers aboard. All he needed was a jar of mustard. - "A little snack," I said, trying to keep a straight face. "Excuse me," he said in a thick accent. "Having a little snack," I repeated. "Ah, yes. A little snack." I went back to sleep and dreamed about the sandwiches. About 30 miles up the road, I j' woke again. I turned toward the rear of the bus, not at I anyone. in particular. But I couldn't miss the big eater. The package of meat was empty and the loaf of bread was half gone. He was washing the meal down with a quart of A&P chocolate milk. I looked at his untied purple tennis shoes and tried to doze off again. O O My friends had promised I would meet some interesting characters if I took a Jong bus trip during fall break. Now, 1,737 miles later, looking at my soiled seven-day Greyhound Ameripass, I can say my friends made good predictions. They said I was loony to go. One person, who travels only on airplanes, called me crazy. When I told her where I was going, she was ready to call the psychiatric ward. "You're going to Detroit to see an old roommate," she said. "Why Detroit?" M :' !' Y Y Y W , j ""v.f ' YY '' ' "He lives there. I've never seen that part of the country before. I would see more than Detroit. My chosen route, which avoided most one-horse towns, took me through Petersburg, Va., Richmond, Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Toledo and Ann Arbor, Mich., where I would spend a day before arriving in Detroit. . I had not planned a detour to New York 467 miles' worth but when I left Michigan decided I wanted to see New York City, if only for two hours, until the next bus left for home. And if I wanted to compare bus terminals, everybody said I had to see the New York-New Jersey Port Authority. See AMERICA ON WHEELS on page 4
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Nov. 6, 1980, edition 1
9
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