Galena resident Madailein Watters is an Ohio native and law and political science graduate of Trinity College Dublin, in Dublin, Ireland.
I found myself outside of New Jersey Station at approximately 2 a.m., waiting patiently to board the Greyhound Bus back home to Columbus, after, of course, every domestic flight to the heart of the Midwest that day had been cancelled.
I was grateful I at least had a ticket onto a bus set to arrive at 2.35 a.m.
Others, many experiencing homelessness, some suffering from mental illness or withdrawal, were audibly circling around the same idea to one another: “… how can we get on this bus?”
Ignorantly, my conscience whispered: What is so great about the Greyhound? But I woke up and quickly realized it didn’t matter the destination, from D.C. to Denver, it would provide respite from the current reality; the police ensuring no one remained inside the station for the night.
Sure enough, the Greyhound rolled up at 2.33 a.m. Inhabiting the attitude of a middle-aged dad at the airport, I walked with urgency to the door.
A lanky dog on their lapels
The driver, dressed intentionally and wearing a tie, let the passengers off and then walked down the stairs himself.
He looked straight past me and the other impatient travelers, and instead, connected to the group I mentioned before: How can we get on this bus?
They frantically pleaded with the driver to let them in. He knew they did not have a ticket, but instead of coldly ignoring them, he embraced their fears and warmly said, “Let me handle these people, and then, I promise, I will help you out.”
I smiled because just that small gesture, to listen and not ignore, is unfortunately more consideration than most people experiencing homelessness get in a year.
Think of how many times you avoided eye contact with someone on the street – even though they are no different than you and a quick change of circumstance can devour anyone into desperation. I boarded the bus and looked out the window to watch the driver keep his promise.
I would come to learn this was not the singular kindness of one man who happened to be a Greyhound bus driver; but rather, a consistent trait of all those who bear the brooch of a lanky dog on their lapel.
We were looking at America
We rolled past Independence Hall, where the Constitution was signed 238 years ago, and stopped outside a run-down bus stop which felt exemplary of a country struggling to maintain basic social infrastructure.
I thought the juxtaposition was depressing and assumed a cold seat alongside my fellow passengers: a man on his way to a rehabilitation center out west, a single mother and her 7-year-old child, a backpacker excited to “see America” (little did he know he was looking at it), a daughter on the way to pick up her unstable mother who called from unknown locations and 50 other passengers coming and going from different lives.
Finally, we began reloading the bus.
The driver, slightly cooler this time – he rocked a New York Knicks hat – began his announcements.
Expecting it to bore me and be administrative in nature, I was shocked to find myself, and everyone on the bus, lit with laughter.
“I don’t know where you’re going or what waits for you outside, but while you’re on my bus it’s going to be a nice ride,” he insisted.
Immediate warmth blanketed my body and, sure, maybe it was because I had not slept in 20 hours, but I nearly cried.
His words, vacant of judgement, reminded me that sometimes in the most unaccepted places you find the most beautiful displays of humanity; one rooted in integrity rather than the performance we’ve become accustomed to. The stressful despair once perfuming the bus vanished.
Words that keep our nation going
Just like the first driver, NY Knicks Hat signaled “it’s going to be alright,” and together personified a lesson America starves for: No matter where you come from or where you’re going, we are all one collective community with the capacity to give to one another without expecting anything in return.
It’s the utilization of that capacity that keeps our country going, even in trying moments like these, and proves the most powerful asset we have.
There is absolutely no dismissing the rule-of-law crisis, authoritarian threat or human rights violations plaguing our nation; nor the reality that the wealthiest few seek to dominate our political prophecy.
But what is often dismissed is that kindness is radical and can be revolutionary when wielded with courage.
As James Baldwin said, “… the world is held together, really it is held together, by the love and passion of a very few people.”
I have come to learn it is, in part, held together by the unsung heroes of the Greyhound – driving people from east to west, from city to rural countryside – physically uniting states more divided than ever and doing so with a care likely unnoticed but, I predict, widely felt.
I did not sleep the rest of the journey; instead, I watched the vast landscape change by the hour, thinking of all the different people who play in every corner of it. Simon & Garfunkel’s, ‘America’ serenaded my ears and, before long, my red eyes spotted a dazzling midwestern skyline – I arrived safely in Columbus, Ohio at 9.15 a.m. – my ETA when I booked the ticket.
Galena resident Madailein Watters is an Ohio native and law and political science graduate of Trinity College Dublin, in Dublin, Ireland. She is an upcoming master’s of law student at New York University. Watters specializes in public-interest law.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: We were looking at America. Greyhound bus ride nearly brought me to tears | Opinion
Reporting by Madailein Watters, Guest Columnist / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Madailein Watters, Guest Columnist | USA TODAY Network
