i only had one really bad experience, and it was due to some crazy older security guard who yelled at me and told me to "get a hotel" because i was sitting on the floor, in front of the door where my bus was scheduled to board in TWO more hours. instead of standing.* i had another hour and a half before my bus left, so i told him that i was a customer and that i'd wait in a way that was comfortable for me. i was actually very polite, i offered to show him my ticket (because greyhound sometimes has a problem with drifters who just want to sit indoors) and he told me he wasn't interested in seeing my ticket. so at this point i'm just confused - why was he being so rude to me if he didn't think i was a drifter?
when i didn't get up, he then threatened to throw me out, so i again pointed out that i was A) a paying customer and B) not in anyone's way whatsoever, and therefore i would continue to sit and wait for bus. which i already PAID for. he started yelling at me so loud that everyone in the terminal stopped what they were doing and just gaped at him, mouths open. this is when he told me to "go get a damn hotel if you're so tired you have sit on a floor!"
i was at the end of a week-long trip between a couple of different states with like 2 hours of a sleep a night** - and there is nothing i would have liked more than to go get a hotel. seriously, you think i enjoy sitting on the ground in a drafty terminal? i started crying. i NEVER cry, but i was so tired, and didn't understand why he was bothering me. another customer, who watched the whole thing from the side as he was using a pay phone, stepped in and told the guard to leave me alone - nothing nasty, just an irritated "the girl's just waiting for her bus man, give her a break"
Anrgy Rent-a-Cop LOST IT. he told the guy the get f*uck out of "his" greyhound station. the guy - who was also a paying customer waiting for a bus - told him he couldn't be thrown out, because HI. WAITING FOR A BUS. NOT BREAKING THE LAW.
Angry Rent-a-Cop had the gall to GRAB the guys arm with NO provocation. of course at this point, the guy jerked his arm away and said "touch me again, and it's a lawsuit". he then opted to leave to avoid being grabbed again, with Rent-a-Cop following him and making smug remarks about "his" greyhound station.
some lady came up to me and said "it's ok hunny" gave me a napkin to dry my eyes with "do you want some ice cream?" i couldn't help but laugh. i know i was crying, but i was 21, not 12. LOL. very kind lady though.
fast forward - my bus is leaving, and the guy that got thrown out because of me appears with a greyhound employee (i'm assuming manager of some kind) and asks me to back him up in a statement - i thank him profusely, give him my phone number and board my bus, and never heard from him again. :( i hope they gave him a refund, at the very least.
in hindsight, i know that i should have marched right over to the complaints office and demanded a manager, and filled out a formal complaint myself - maybe even called the real police, since i witnessed an attempted assault on a customer. as i said, i was absolutely delirous from lack of sleep and not myself. sigh.
* if anyone has frequented greyhound more than once, you can envision this, as this is what EVERYONE at greyhound does - you have to get in line way before your bus boards, to ensure a seat - and 99% of the line will sit on the floor/sit on their luggage, and wait quietly. i've been to many different greyhound stations in many different states, and this what it is done. nobody had ever before (or since) asked any of us to STAND for hours or ordered us to leave our LINE and sit on a bench instead, as this guy did.
** as i'm sure this sounds a bit odd, let me clarify: i was following a band, with multiple friends from others states - we all went to a couple of shows, and then parted ways.
short version: Angry Rent-a-Cop screams at me, puts his hands on a man that defends me, entire terminal shocked.