It's 1:30pm on Saturday, July 23, 2011 as I begin writing on my iPad using an eponymous application known as Documents Free. As I do my best to type accurately on the screen's pseudo-keyboard, I also pause to look out the window of a Greyhound bus, which has recently begun its way from Washington, DC to Philadelphia via Baltimore. We're currently in heavy traffic northbound on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, and there is no wifi signal in the bus (even though there's supposed to be) so I can't cruise the web (at least not on the iPad) and find out why. There's also no power being generated by the power outlets in the seat in front of me. The guy sitting there has tried several others besides his own. Apparently, none of them works either. The driver, a husky, light-skinned lack man clicks on the microphone and reads us the rules of the road in a surprisingly high voice. No smoking, keep cellphones on vibrate, use headphones to listen to music, and keep the volume low so no one beside yourself can hear what you're listening to. The rules seem reasonable to me.
It's 1:50 and through stop-and-go traffic which is now mostly moving we're just outside of Laurel. I pull out my iPhone. The Google Map application indicates clear sailing til we reach Baltimore. I turn off the phone which is now showing 77% battery life.
It's 2pm and I've neglected to mention why I'm riding the bus in the first place. I'm on my way to the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA) conference. It's the second one in Philly, and I attended the first in 2009 as well, which was also the first IPPA conference anywhere. I'm staying at a Residence Inn a couple of blocks away like I did last time. It's also several walkable blocks from the bus station.
At 2:10, we arrive uneventfully at the Baltimore bus station and at 2:25 we uneventfully depart. Wifi and power are still not working. I tell the driver and he shrugs and suggests I try a different seat. Then he reviews the rules of the road for the newcomers. We circle M&T Bank Stadium (great name) and swing back on the highway. The cityscape shines in the distance on our left and the Enchantment of the Seas stands proudly on our immediate right just before we descend under the harbor by way of the Fort McHenry tunnel.
It's 2:45 as the driver tells us we're running a few minutes late. I decide to eat my lunch. I open my backpack and pull out a bagel, a packet of cream cheese, and a plastic knife. A I spread th cream cheese on my bagel, the microphone squeals and the driver announces that the bus smoke detector has picked up the smell of a cigarette and whoever just lit up had better put it out right away. He also says that he can detect the smell of cologne and that he's prepared to stop the bus if necessary to ensure that the perpetrator gets his or her due. He says he knows which seat the odors are emanating from and that they better stop posthaste. (He doesn't use these exact words.). A young black lady sitting to my left looks over in my direction. Our eyes meet, we each raise our eyebrows slightly, then she returns to her book and I to my bagel and cream cheese. No more stern remarks are uttered over the speaker and in less than 15 minutes, I'm done. Then I grab my iPad and document the experience.
At 3:15, I pull out the IPPA conference schedule. I go through it methodically looking for nothing in particular but selecting put sessions that seem like they would be of interest. When I'm done I can definitely see a pattern. I've selected only sessions that have to do with either positive psychology in the workplace work or strengths (or both).
As I finish, the bus slows again. It's 3:45 and we're having a hard time getting past the outskirts of Wilmington. We've got another 20 or so miles to go and getting very good looks at boarded up row houses, graffiti-enhanced boxcars, garish billboards advertising the lottery, cheap, lawyers, and cheap insurance. Finally, we pass two police cars on the shoulder with lights flashing. Once we get by them, our speed picks up again and the signs of poverty pass by at a pace that makes it much easier to take little notice of them.
At 4:05 we pass the airport. A very few minutes later, the Philadelphia skyline appears ahead and as it does, the traffic slows yet again. I load up Waze, a social networking GPS application for the iPhone and it shows traffic moving on 95 at between 15 and 20 miles per hour up to Broad Street, another three miles or so. I can see New Jersey across the Delaware River on my right. Freighters cruise slowly in both directions as jets navigate the skies overhead. The skyline is now a few miles to my left and the stadium obscures it for a few seconds. As it does so, the speaker crackles and the driver announces that we're passing the stadium. It's the only landmark he comments on during the trip. He doesn't mention Camden across the river or the tall ships on this side. No attention is paid to the boats or the bridges or the buildings, but I try to take in as much as I can. There's a sign for the Liberty Bell and Betsy Ross' house and the Barrymore birthplace and the Convention Center and Chinatown (which we're passing as I write this) and much, much more.
It's 4:30 as we make the left onto the Greyhound station. We're here!!
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