A Texas woman taking a day-long bus trip had managed to capture a disturbing altercation between a passenger and the driver. She claimed the driver was threatening to leave people behind, which spurred a fellow passenger to speak up.
Posted by Averie on TikTok (Petty_with_a_pen), a passenger of the bus and the one recording, had uploaded a clip of the 18-hour Greyhound bus trip. According to Averie, upon reaching Mississippi, a new driver took over the bus and gave a speech about being a “man of God.”
On August 4th, I took a Greyhound from Dallas to Georgia. It was an 18-hour trip. On August 5th, in Jackson, MS, we changed drivers. The driver made a speech about how he was a man of God and that he wanted things to go well so we could reach our destination safely. Before we drove off, one passenger, who appeared to be between 70 and 80 years old, misread her seat number and sat in the wrong seat. The driver got upset and said, “Didn’t I tell you guys to sit in the right seat?” Shortly after leaving, the driver abruptly pulled over onto the shoulder in front of an exit sign and said, “It’s too loud.” Mind you, it was not loud at all. It was a bus full of strangers, and no one was talking. He also did this four more times during the trip. When we got to a stop in Mississippi, he started preaching about God and then made an announcement about how people shouldn’t look to others for validation, especially on social media. It was weird because what does that have to do with your job? At 5:02 p.m., we arrived at the exit ramp traffic signal near the Tuscaloosa bus stop. The driver said, “You have 20 minutes to make it back on this bus or get left.” Mind you, we were not even parked at the gas station yet. We were still sitting at the light. The light was long, so we didn’t park until around 5:07. At 5:22, which only gave us 15 minutes, he started to pull away. The passenger sitting next to me, named Willie, yelled, “Hey, stop! You’re leaving people behind,” including the 70- to 80-year-old woman he had yelled at earlier. Willie said, “What the fuck are you doing?” The driver got angry, stopped the bus, and said he was on a schedule. Then he called the police. Five officers showed up. Willie never left his seat. He spoke calmly the entire time. Willie said, “I’m wrong for caring about my fellow people?” He reiterated that the driver was going to leave people behind, especially the older woman. Thankfully, the older woman made it back onto the bus. The police said Willie had to leave, even if it was only because he had cursed. One officer said, “You either walk out of here, or we drag you out of here.” Over cursing? Willie got off the bus as instructed and was left stranded in Alabama. What kind of “Man of God” would be okay with leaving an elderly woman stranded?” Yeah okay Everyone made it back onto the bus because of Willie. Whole ordeal maybe took 20 minutes when he could’ve simply gave us the 20 minutes he promised and waited for everyone to re-board. Everyone was back on the bus by 5:25pm. But he added 20 minutes due to calling the police over one curse word. But he was on a schedule…. We later had to reboard at another station in Alabama. The driver made yet another speech while pacing the aisle, saying, “I don’t know why people want to interfere with me.” Incredibly weird behavior. Just do your job and drive. Once or twice, he pulled over again because it was supposedly “too loud.” The shoulder is for emergencies. Why are you pulling a huge bus over for no reason? Greyhound should be completely ashamed of itself. I had most of the bus ride to myself, but at the last station, I had to share a seat. I told the woman about the trip before she got on the bus, and she said she had previously had the same driver and that he was crazy. I sent a complaint to Greyhound, and they’ve done nothing about it. That’s why I’m posting this video. You owe everyone on that bus a refund and an apology. You put our lives in danger due to your drivers erratic behavior. I will never use your company again. This was my first and last time. The Tuscaloosa police should also be ashamed. I guess people can call and demand that someone be removed over any little thing. Maybe next time, someone will sneeze too loudly, and if the driver doesn’t like it, you’ll threaten to drag that person off the bus, too. How shameful. @Tuscaloosa Co Sheriff’s Office #greyhoundbus @FlixBus
Averie wrote that he had a lot of attitude and even yelled at an elderly passenger for sitting in the wrong seat. He also pulled over to tell them that they were being “too loud” even though Averie said the bus was very quiet.
After making a stop, the driver told them, “You have 20 minutes to make it back on this bus or get left.” 15 minutes later, not 20, he started pulling away, despite multiple passengers not being present. This included an elderly woman whom Averie said looked to be between 70 and 80 years old.
Another passenger named Willie tried to tell the driver this. This resulted in the bus driver calling the police. Five officers dealt with him, with one telling him, “You either walk out of here, or we drag you out of here.” Willie was removed from the bus and left stranded in Alabama, according to Averie.
People share their outrage on Averie’s TikTok video
Unsurprisingly, people online were very upset by how the Greyhound bus driver handled his passengers, especially Willie. Additionally, some commenters were also irritated by Averie herself, insisting she should’ve acted, too.
One commenter told Averie she would’ve “held that bus up” for Willie. “I hate that we sit and watch things like this happen.” Averie defended her inaction, saying it would’ve escalated the situation because of the “armed police officers.”
Some viewers offered other solutions, such as one user recommending Averie “call the news station.” Another commenter urged Averie to “let Greyhound know in detail” so that it won’t “happen again to other riders.” Others were, of course, worried about Willie’s condition, hoping that he wasn’t arrested.
Because of this situation, Averie has shared that she sent a complaint to Greyhound. However, she has claimed Greyhound has “done nothing about it,” and instead posted the video for awareness.
Brady has been writing about video games for the better part of four years. When he isn't obsessing over RPGs or games from his childhood, there's a good chance he's working on another short story.
