Greyhound People

Greyhound People Summary | Detailed Summary

The narrator of the story boards a bus in Sacramento, California and immediately senses that she is on the wrong bus. While she had taken the time to confirm with at least a half dozen people at the station if the bus she was about to board was the express to San Francisco, she still feels that she had made a terrible mistake. Despite her fears, she boards the bus and chooses a seat near the driver, thinking it to be the safest place. Almost immediately after she sits down, a tall black man boards the bus, grows angry and tells her that she is occupying his seat.

The woman is startled by his reaction, mutters a brief apology for taking his spot and chooses another seat two rows back. As she settles into her new seat, she observes that the man is happily engaged in a conversation with the two women sitting across the aisle. Before long, the driver boards the bus and they are on their way.

As the bus heads toward San Francisco, the narrator becomes aware of a young child seated behind her who is loudly asking his mother a string of questions. One of the women seated next to the black man shouts at the boy, telling him that he is the loudest traveler she has ever heard. This does not quiet the boy, but rather makes his questions more incessant, which in turn angers the woman more. The exchange continues until a white woman, apparently the boy's mother, makes her way to the front of the bus and explains that her son is retarded and cannot help the constant questioning. She returns to her seat and the boy continues his questions. The black woman, in an effort to get in the last word, says that her daughter wears a hearing aid. As the narrator listens to this exchange between the young child and the older black woman, she notices that most of the other passengers on the bus are black, a fact she finds puzzling.

The narrator finds herself captivated by the scenery as the bus continues its journey. As she watches the trees, farms and houses pass by, she becomes aware that the boy is talking again, but this time to people across the aisle. She also notices that the bus has left the freeway. The driver announces that they will soon be stopping in Vallejo before going on to Oakland and San Francisco. The narrator realizes that her intuition was correct. She is on the wrong bus, but she is somewhat appeased to know that she will eventually arrive in San Francisco, albeit a half hour late.

After the bus parks, the black woman in front hastily rises from her seat and, looking directly at the young boy, says "And you, you just shut up" before making her way off the bus with her seatmate and the man who had forced the narrator from her seat. Several people applaud as they leave the bus, but the narrator does not.

The narrator explains that she works as a statistician for a company located in San Francisco, but she has been assigned to an office in Sacramento for ten weeks. She lives with a woman named Hortense who graciously took her in after her husband left her for another woman. Hortense is older than the narrator and is quite protective of her. She meets her at the bus station each night because she thinks the neighborhood where the station is located is dangerous. The narrator thinks others may assume that she and Hortense are a lesbian couple.

Many people exit the bus in Vallejo, including the woman with her retarded son. As the narrator watches them leave, she feels sorry for the boy. She feels bad that she had silently taken the black woman's side during their dispute, but she also tells herself that given the choice, she would rather travel with the black woman.

More people board the bus and the narrator pulls her briefcase closer to make room for someone to sit. She looks up and sees the biggest woman she has ever seen making her way toward the empty seat next to her. The woman squeezes into the seat and apologizes to the narrator for making her uncomfortable. The two women talk, and soon the narrator learns that her seatmate lives and works in Oakland but takes a course in the care of special children in Vallejo. This prompts the narrator to tell her about the loud young boy. Her seatmate replies that there is no reason why the boy couldn't have been quieter. A disability does not give a person the right to disturb others. This makes the narrator feel better about her own reaction to the boy. Before long, the bus reaches Oakland and the two women part ways.

When the bus finally reaches San Francisco, the narrator finds Hortense frantically pacing and visibly upset. The narrator explains that there are three busses that leave Sacramento for San Francisco at around the same time, and it is easy to choose the wrong one. Although Hortense tells her that she will probably catch on after a few weeks, the narrator doubts that her friend actually believes this.

The two women make their way through the station, a place every bit as sinister and threatening as Hortense believes it to be, to Hortense's car. They return to their apartment where a dinner of chef salad awaits.

The narrator finds that the station is less threatening in the morning, and she does not feel the least bit uncomfortable making her way to her bus alone. There is only one bus that leaves San Francisco in the morning, an express that leaves once each hour, and there is no danger of her taking the wrong one. Most mornings, the bus is not very crowded and she sits alone, but on this particular morning a young girl asks if she can sit next to her.

The two women begin to talk, but the conversation is guarded. The narrator can tell from the girl's accent that she, like the narrator, is from upstate New York. As they talk, the young girl tells her that she works in Sacramento and soon, the narrator learns that the girl works in the building next to hers. The narrator is somewhat startled by this and wonders what the chances are that she would meet a person from her home state who works in the next building nearly 3000 miles from home. The narrator does not care for the young girl and chooses not to share many personal details with her. The narrator meets the young girl from New York several more times in the coming weeks, always on the 5:30 express to San Francisco. Their conversation is generally bland, superficial and boring.

The narrator and the girl reach the Sacramento station, a place the narrator describes as "weird." It serves as a departure area for busses bound for the gambling destinations of South Lake Tahoe and Reno, and there is more activity than would be expected for the early morning hour.

A few nights later, the narrator again finds herself on the wrong bus, and this time it is the local that makes several stops before reaching San Francisco. When she realizes this, she knows that Hortense will be furious and begins to concoct a story to explain her mistake. She soon decides that the fact that Hortense is waiting for her at the station is even more ridiculous than her having to create a story.

The narrator looks at her fellow passengers and notices that most of them are black. She also realizes that none of the people who were on her first "wrong" trip are passengers on this bus. She senses a sort of camaraderie among these passengers which she finds to be interesting. She also enjoys observing her surroundings despite the trip's length and her worries about Hortense.

As the narrator continues to look around, she notices a young man who is sleeping. She describes him as "the most beautiful young man I had ever seen." As she continues to look at him, she begins to recall the events that led to the demise of her marriage and the many hints that she did not pick up on until it was too late.

When the bus finally reaches San Francisco, Hortense is, as expected, quite angry. The narrator tries to apologize but her friend won't listen. The narrator finally tells Hortense that it is obvious that she has a problem finding the right bus and perhaps Hortense shouldn't meet her anymore. The two women drive home in silence and share a chef's salad for dinner.

The next day, as the narrator waits in line to purchase another commuter ticket, she meets the young girl from New York again. The two exchange pleasantries before the young girl tells the narrator that she should consider buying a ticket known as a California Pass, which will entitle her to travel anywhere in the state. Intrigued by the possibility of traveling, the narrator takes the girl's advice and buys the California Pass. They board the bus, and explaining to the young girl that she has some work to do, the narrator settles into her seat and begins to contemplate moving into her own place.

As the story ends, the narrator explains that she has always been aware of how the busses departing for San Francisco worked. The Express leaves from Gate 5, the bus that stops in Vallejo and Oakland before reaching San Francisco departs from Gate 6 and the all-stop local leaves from Gate 8. The narrator says that the bus that departs from Gate 6 is her favorite. Arriving at the station well ahead of the bus's scheduled departure, she realizes that she is hungry and goes into the station restaurant to order a milkshake. As she drinks her milkshake, she sees the black man who had so angrily ejected her from her seat. He greets her with a friendly smile, and she wonders if he remembered how rude he was to her that day, or if he was just being polite. The narrator decides that whatever his reason, she feels good about the possibilities that lay before her.