The wheels on the bus may go round and round, but that doesn’t mean you will arrive promptly. I parked in the long-term parking lot at Austin Bergstrom Airport. I was second in line at the bus stop for shuttle service to the parking lot when I returned from my trip. The couple who arrive first had an unbelievable amount of luggage. They had two huge suitcases on rollers, two car seats for small children and a host of other carry on items. Honestly, if I had to tote that much stuff in order to leave town, I’d probably choose to stay home.
The line behind me grew exponentially. I am not when I say that it was a very long line. Finally, after what seemed like forever, the shuttle bus made the curve headed our direction. Finally, I thought and my jaw dropped when what appeared to be an empty shuttle bus drove past us. I’m not making this up. The bus went to the other end of the airport and stopped to let one passenger off.
It was another long time before the bus came back around the corner headed our direction. Gratefully, the bus stopped this time. Of course, the driver who appeared to be the same driver that drove past us the first time, stopped short of the head of the line. How rude is that? I allowed the family in front of me to back-track and get on the bus first. It took some time because in addition to the all their stuff they had two small children to get on first.
Before the bus was fully loaded, It appeared that we were already out of cargo space. Finally the wheels on the bus were turning. My truck was located in the “F” lot. Our first stop was in the “G” lot.
Two different sets of folks exited the bus in that section, but to my surprise, when those passengers were let off at the two stops, more passengers were allowed to get on the bus with their luggage.
This was a first for me! I’ve never been on a bus delivering passengers to the parking lot that also picked up additional passengers and their accompanying luggage along the route.
So maybe it doesn’t take much to push me over the edge, but I was close. With every subsequent stop, seemingly hordes of other people toting luggage got on the bus.
I guess I had nothing but time to kill, but if I had been a departing passenger with a limited amount of time to get to the gate, I’d have gone ballistic. I’d have been a crazed man who probably was in danger of making the 6:00 news. There are only one word to describe it: UNACCEPTABLE.
Like I said, this was a first for me. I’ve never been on a shuttle bus to the parking lot that allowed new passengers on the bus before those initially picked up at the terminal were totally off the bus.
As I was processing the insanity of it all, I could hear the sound of Paul Simon singing, Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover rolling around in my head. It was the line “Hop on the bus Gus” that prompted the memory. Do you remember the lyrics?
“Ooh, slip out the back, Jack
Make a new plan, Stan
You don’t need to be coy, Roy
Just listen to me
Hop on the bus, Gus
You don’t need to discuss much
Just drop off the key, Lee
And get yourself free”
So will I ever park in long-term parking at the airport again? I’m not sure I have an answer. I have parked off-site and found it worked. The advantage to airport parking is there are more options for places to park your truck. Of course, the disadvantage is what I learned yesterday, You may never get off the bus and set yourself free.
All My Best!
Don
Carpe Diem 