As a greyhound user from 1998 to 2016. I've traveled most of western Canada on them buggers. Can't count how many overnight runs I've done on the Calgary to Vancouver route. Too many. The Dolldrums hit you hard.
Worse is the Edmonton to Saskatoon run. Long, boring, full of KFC bucket folk. It was always a keep you on you toes trip as made stops in North Battleford and Lloydminster.
There ft.mac folk and then there small city saskie folk.
I have many memories of the Kamloops depot, the Edmonton depot being really gross. Although, it did have an A&W in it, maybe the best food in all the depots maybe.
When I lived in Canmore and Banff, I took that thing to Calgary so many times. 20 bucks was worth it.
I think I had like a turbo emergency once where I had to use the toilet, scary thing to do when your driver is snaking through Salmon arm at mock chicken speeds at 3 in the A.M.
The end of greyhound bummed me out a bit. The end of an era will do that. Even if the entire scene was the literal visualization of what depression looked like.
__________________ "Everybody's so desperate to look smart that nobody is having fun anymore" -Jackie Redmond
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As a greyhound user from 1998 to 2016. I've traveled most of western Canada on them buggers. Can't count how many overnight runs I've done on the Calgary to Vancouver route. Too many. The Dolldrums hit you hard.
Worse is the Edmonton to Saskatoon run. Long, boring, full of KFC bucket folk. It was always a keep you on you toes trip as made stops in North Battleford and Lloydminster.
There ft.mac folk and then there small city saskie folk.
I have many memories of the Kamloops depot, the Edmonton depot being really gross. Although, it did have an A&W in it, maybe the best food in all the depots maybe.
When I lived in Canmore and Banff, I took that thing to Calgary so many times. 20 bucks was worth it.
I think I had like a turbo emergency once where I had to use the toilet, scary thing to do when your driver is snaking through Salmon arm at mock chicken speeds at 3 in the A.M.
The end of greyhound bummed me out a bit. The end of an era will do that. Even if the entire scene was the literal visualization of what depression looked like.
I could have gotten you in for free...but in the baggage tank.
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As a greyhound user from 1998 to 2016. I've traveled most of western Canada on them buggers. Can't count how many overnight runs I've done on the Calgary to Vancouver route. Too many. The Dolldrums hit you hard.
Worse is the Edmonton to Saskatoon run. Long, boring, full of KFC bucket folk. It was always a keep you on you toes trip as made stops in North Battleford and Lloydminster.
There ft.mac folk and then there small city saskie folk.
I have many memories of the Kamloops depot, the Edmonton depot being really gross. Although, it did have an A&W in it, maybe the best food in all the depots maybe.
When I lived in Canmore and Banff, I took that thing to Calgary so many times. 20 bucks was worth it.
I think I had like a turbo emergency once where I had to use the toilet, scary thing to do when your driver is snaking through Salmon arm at mock chicken speeds at 3 in the A.M.
The end of greyhound bummed me out a bit. The end of an era will do that. Even if the entire scene was the literal visualization of what depression looked like.
This needs to be a new Term for annoying travelers.
"KFC Bucket Folk"
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I took the Greyhound from Vancouver to Calgary in the late 90's after a summer of tree planting.
It was some of the most beautiful scenery I had ever seen on that drive. The bus was air conditioned. Everyone on board was super friendly. They showed a movie! Jumanji with Robin Williams! We stopped at Subway and I got a footlong meatball sub, which was so delicious.
It was a really great trip at a super affordable price. I decided Greyhound was the way to go!
A few years later I was living in Dallas and needed to get to Washington DC. It was really cheap and only 3 days on the bus, and I'd never seen the Southern US!
There was no movie. There were a lot of drugs that others were using/had used. There was a policeman to escort us from the bus to the terminal in Atlanta so we weren't murdered. I always tried to sit next to an older lady so I wouldn't get shanked, and my opening line was always to ask about her grandkids. It worked. We stopped at a Subway, and the driver left a good percentage of the passengers there because they were past the 15 min prison rules for breaks.
DC was amazing. I flew home on a credit card and worked a 2nd job to pay it off. Worth it to never set foot on a Greyhound again.
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Sometimes you get a bible shoved in your face. Other times you may have a Mormon or two at your door. But on the Greyhound, you get a free copy of "The Proclamation of Baha'U'llah." 15 year old me really had no idea what to do with this. I actually still don't. But thanks, guy.
Greyhound was my 2nd job after university. It was also when they just started the airlines. Pricing was fine if you booked in advanced but if you booked within 5 days of travel a oneway ticket from yyc to yyz was $1200 and people were freaking out! lol
Man it was sooo depressing working there in the main depot. -30c walking out to that outdoor lot at 7am..
It's the only job I have ever been fired from.They let me go because I wouldn't sign up for more than 2 shifts a week.
The best thing was that I got to hang out with this ex-Stamps cheerleader there!
__________________ Peter12 "I'm no Trump fan but he is smarter than most if not everyone in this thread. ”
Yeah. And what was Alberta's minimum wage around then? $8? To double that is pretty decent for moving boxes and loading buses.
But then theres the madness. And the madness should come with compensation.
It’s still pretty far from what I would consider obscenely well for the time given, not bottom of the barrel by any stretch though. Minimum wage isn’t a very good barometer for determining fair compensation. It’s obvious this company hurt you badly Locke and it appears as though that has had a negative impact on your self esteem which in turn has lead you to believe you just weren’t worth more than a middle of the pack wage. Well locke I’m here to tell you that just because the dirty dawg was able to break you down to the point of believing that there’s still people who believe you deserved better.
Let the healing begin, the depot is long gone so they can’t hurt you anymore.
Quote:
See, in my 3 year tenure at Greyhound I got them sued twice (that I know of) and committed multiple infractions that should have at least gotten me fired, witnessed countless acts of insanity both from Staff and Passengers.
It was an interesting ride on the Dirty Dawg.
See now these are the stories we want to hear in greater detail.
I took a bus from Townsville to Perth once. That's 5000km's. Of course, as a poor backpacker I booked it straight through because I had no money to stay overnight anywhere and figured I would sleep on the bus.
Halfway through I run into a fellow getting rid of a half pound of "shake" he has after trimming weed for a week. I procured said MJ for a budget price of $50 and proceeded to roll up as many single doobies as possible. I started selling them to fellow bus mates at a bargain price of 2 for $5 to raise enough funds for maybe a night sleep in Ayers so I can see some giant rock.
Of course half the bus is eventually in on this, and every time we stop there's a bunch of us that would go out back and proceed to get high AF before re-boarding the bus. All is well until one moron decides he can't wait for the next stop, goes into the bus bathroom, removes the smoke detector, and lights up. Bus immediately stops, cops are called, passenger is arrested. So here I am with a pile of prerolls and a mitt full of $5 bills sweating my nards off because I'm thinking I'm next in line for the clink. My options are toss the weed or risk it (keep in mind I'm poor AF) so I do the only logical thing and put it in my backpack in the luggage shelf because I somehow think because the weed isn't on me I would be fine. Spent the remainder of the bus ride in total paranoia, make it to Perth with my cash and my remaining joints and proceed to blow all my funds on $5 box wine.
The one part I will never forget about that trip (other than the 50 million flys constantly buzzing around) was chatting with the driver while driving the Nullarbor. I'm half asleep in the front row and all of a sudden I'm jarred awake to a loud THUD as we run something over. I jolt awake and ask the driver WTF that was and he laughs....."Fakkin roos, mate". I asked him how often that happens and if it was normal....to which he responds "We don't slow down for those kants, but you gotta watch out for the camels".
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According to page 86 of this old collective agreement, in 2011 the start rate for the “platform loader” classification, which I’m assuming is what you were, was $15.41/hour. The top rate after 4 years was $18.98. I’m assuming you probably worked there somewhere in the neighbourhood of 5 or 6 years earlier than that, so they had probably increased from your time there.
But even had those been the rates during your tenure, in what universe would that be considered as being compensated obscenely well for a job where even a person intelligent enough to graduate from university has to pay a lot of attention just to not get hurt? While those rates were higher paying than a lot of manual labour jobs, they certainly weren’t at the top of the mountain either.
I guess I’m just a little perplexed by your position here. I mean how little do you think people should have been getting paid to do a dangerous job that you seem to think was the worst thing ever?
Some of these stories are pretty funny, some are also more than a little concerning too. But just to offer you a little perspective in what appears to be your ongoing road to recovery from your time working there(which I totally get) you may be surprised to hear that many of the things you’re describing aren’t exactly uncommon at a lot of big companies. In many cases it’s actually far worse.
Depends on the years he worked.
In 1981 minimum wage in Alberta was $3.80. It went up to $4.50 in 1988 and then $5.00 in 1992. $5.40 in 1998 and then $5.90 by end of 1999. It was still under $10 in 2011 and slowly crept up to $15 in 2015 and it sits there today.
So, if he worked there in the early/mid 2000s and he made double minimum wage... that's obscenely well compensated for that era.
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I took the puppy to Regina one time, sometime around 1990 or 1991. The arrival in Regina was delayed by two or three hours because the bus rear ended a car in the middle of the highway. From what I recall the car wanted to turn off the highway, missed the intersection and tried to slam on the breaks in a last ditch effort to make the turn. The bus just couldn't stop in time. I remember a bang and looking up and seeing a smashed up car about 100feet ahead still rolling to a stop.
We weren't allowed off of the bus and had to stay there the entire time. I want to say that someone came to inspect the bus to ensure it can carry on to Regina but I'm not 100% certain of that. Either way, we had to wait for RCMP to show up to the scene and take statements from anyone on the bus who saw anything.
Meanwhile in Regina my friend and his dad were waiting for my bus to arrive. Several busses arrived but I didn't get off. All they were told was "It has been delayed" but they weren't given any reason why.
I did the Vancouver to Calgary ride in May 2004, right on time to enjoy the Western Conference finals. I remember not being able to sleep, but not being too sketch. I also remember the bus sitting on the side of the highway in the middle of the Rockies because it broke down. I recall a nice long delay on the mountain. Never again.
I took the puppy to Regina one time, sometime around 1990 or 1991. The arrival in Regina was delayed by two or three hours because the bus rear ended a car in the middle of the highway. From what I recall the car wanted to turn off the highway, missed the intersection and tried to slam on the breaks in a last ditch effort to make the turn. The bus just couldn't stop in time. I remember a bang and looking up and seeing a smashed up car about 100feet ahead still rolling to a stop.
We weren't allowed off of the bus and had to stay there the entire time. I want to say that someone came to inspect the bus to ensure it can carry on to Regina but I'm not 100% certain of that. Either way, we had to wait for RCMP to show up to the scene and take statements from anyone on the bus who saw anything.
Meanwhile in Regina my friend and his dad were waiting for my bus to arrive. Several busses arrived but I didn't get off. All they were told was "It has been delayed" but they weren't given any reason why.
In Hound parlance, we called 'Puppies' or 'Pups' the trailer that the buses hauled behind them.
The bus is the Hound and the trailer is the Puppy.
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