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Or, again, why I decided to leave the civilian sector and join the Navy...
Greyhound Bus Lines has officially been the strangest and most annoying places I have ever worked. Can't say I could complain to much, at the time, the general economy of Washington State sucked and I was glad just to have part-time work.
And that line in my title... I love that line. It means I get to watch an otherwise normal human being decide that acting like a complete ass will get them everything they want in life- Either that or they're about to be royally disapointed!
Though routine fun things happened all the time, be it the drunk guy passed out on my floor or the fellow that enters the terminal five minutes before I'm closing to declare he's been mugged before bleeding onto my nice mopped floor, I will have to admit the best I ever saw was my last day of work before I took some vacation time and left for boot-camp.
As a quick visual, our terminal was L shaped with the ticket-counter at the short end, the bus-loading doors at the far side of the long end and huge windows running it's length to show when the bus pulled up.
M: Obviously
EOF: Entitled Old Fart
EOF and his wife had purchased tickets only minutes before the bus arrived- No problems there oddly enough, the real fun began when it came time to load.
M: (over intercom) Blah, blah, blither-dee-blah, please line up in front of the double-doors at the end of the hall for passenger loading.
I proceed to head outside through the baggage area so I can pitch peoples stuff onboard and "hey-presto!"! EOF and his wife have taken my previous announcement to mean "Please park yourself by the doors of the bus in the most blatant fashion possible!"
M: Excuse me sir, due to regulations, I have to ask you and your wife to wait inside-
EOF: WHY DO I HAVE TO DO THAT!
M: Er, the driver collects your tickets inside as you leave-
EOF quickly cuts me off with a blistering gripe about the general evil of it all before realizing he will indeed have to get in line with everyone else.
Entitlement reigns supreme as he and his wife proceed to walk wrong-way through the double-doors, push past the Bus Driver and park themselves in the front of the line!
I follow and calmly point out that the others were in line before him and they need to move to the rear. Again I am met with general grumpiness and how he is old and infirmed and armless/legless/torsoless/etc and a stroll of twenty feet will obviously kill him. Five minutes of time go by before he sullenly moves back into the middle of the pack.
I return outside, say "Hi" to the driver and resume loading bags. At this point, EOF has finally had his ticket stamped by the driver and decides now would be the perfect time to call me out.
EOF: Excuse me young man!
M: Sir?
EOF: I just wanted you to know that you were incredibly rude to me! I'll have you know I'm a Vietnam Vet and I'm going to tell your manager! Better search the classifieds because I'm going to have your job!
M: (Putting on the biggest genuine grin I can while throwing my hands up in the air) Well you just go ahead sir.... It's My Last Day Anyway!"
To this day I have never seen someone shut up so quickly at seeing their bluff called.
Greyhound Bus Lines has officially been the strangest and most annoying places I have ever worked. Can't say I could complain to much, at the time, the general economy of Washington State sucked and I was glad just to have part-time work.
And that line in my title... I love that line. It means I get to watch an otherwise normal human being decide that acting like a complete ass will get them everything they want in life- Either that or they're about to be royally disapointed!
Though routine fun things happened all the time, be it the drunk guy passed out on my floor or the fellow that enters the terminal five minutes before I'm closing to declare he's been mugged before bleeding onto my nice mopped floor, I will have to admit the best I ever saw was my last day of work before I took some vacation time and left for boot-camp.
As a quick visual, our terminal was L shaped with the ticket-counter at the short end, the bus-loading doors at the far side of the long end and huge windows running it's length to show when the bus pulled up.
M: Obviously
EOF: Entitled Old Fart
EOF and his wife had purchased tickets only minutes before the bus arrived- No problems there oddly enough, the real fun began when it came time to load.
M: (over intercom) Blah, blah, blither-dee-blah, please line up in front of the double-doors at the end of the hall for passenger loading.
I proceed to head outside through the baggage area so I can pitch peoples stuff onboard and "hey-presto!"! EOF and his wife have taken my previous announcement to mean "Please park yourself by the doors of the bus in the most blatant fashion possible!"
M: Excuse me sir, due to regulations, I have to ask you and your wife to wait inside-
EOF: WHY DO I HAVE TO DO THAT!
M: Er, the driver collects your tickets inside as you leave-
EOF quickly cuts me off with a blistering gripe about the general evil of it all before realizing he will indeed have to get in line with everyone else.
Entitlement reigns supreme as he and his wife proceed to walk wrong-way through the double-doors, push past the Bus Driver and park themselves in the front of the line!
I follow and calmly point out that the others were in line before him and they need to move to the rear. Again I am met with general grumpiness and how he is old and infirmed and armless/legless/torsoless/etc and a stroll of twenty feet will obviously kill him. Five minutes of time go by before he sullenly moves back into the middle of the pack.
I return outside, say "Hi" to the driver and resume loading bags. At this point, EOF has finally had his ticket stamped by the driver and decides now would be the perfect time to call me out.
EOF: Excuse me young man!
M: Sir?
EOF: I just wanted you to know that you were incredibly rude to me! I'll have you know I'm a Vietnam Vet and I'm going to tell your manager! Better search the classifieds because I'm going to have your job!
M: (Putting on the biggest genuine grin I can while throwing my hands up in the air) Well you just go ahead sir.... It's My Last Day Anyway!"
To this day I have never seen someone shut up so quickly at seeing their bluff called.
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