The bus to Philly

I know you folks who have never taken a bus to work can't relate to this particular BLOG. But I had no other means of transport when I was growing up, until I was 21. At that point, I finally saved enough money to buy a car, insurance, etc. But until then, it was bus transportation for me. Oh, there was a car pool to college in the morning and afternoon, but I had to stick to the driver's schedule, which often meant, I either didn't get to do anything extra-curricular, or I had to stick around college for hours and hours studying. Yikes! Unless, I took the bus!

You don't say, "I had to ride the bus," or "I rode the bus to work", in South Jersey, you say, "I took the bus."

So, bus transportation was the means to an end. The bus stop at the corner of Second and The Pike was either a number 21 or a number 31. That was only a block and a half from our home. The 21 bus originated in Turnersville, and the 31 originated in Williamstown. Those two towns were south of Runnemede on "The Pike".

The buses (except for express runs) took The Pike to Mt. Ephraim Avenue and then around a couple of corners in downtown Camden, to the Ben Franklin Bridge. (See prior post -- Crossing the Bridge). The whole run on a busy morning took 45 minutes, including stops at almost every corner in Runnemede, Bellmawr, Haddon Heights, Mt. Ephraim, Audubon Park, and Camden. Not good for the stomach, if I dared to eat breakfast. I usually picked up something when I got to Philadelphia to munch on and keep me going until lunch.

The express bus route took Route 130 instead of Mt. Ephraim Avenue and once you got out of Mt. Ephraim, it was clear sailing until you got to Philly. That run only took about 30 minutes, so I tried to get an express as often as I could.

The cost round-trip was 50 cents, or less, if you bought a strip of tickets. For $2.10 you could get 10 tickets to ride the 21 or 31 and that would last one week of work. They were undated, so you didn't have to use the tickets up in one week. I always kept tickets in my purse, because I never knew if I was going to need to use them to get from Glassboro (Glassboro State College is where I attended college) to Camden to home, or from Philadelphia to home. It was a cost saver, even though $2.10 was quite a chunk of change out of a 40-hour take home pay of $45.00.

Yes, folks, the minimum wage back then was only $1; it was up to $1.25 by the time I married. I always thought I was doing very well if I earned $1.25 to $1.50 an hour. When I finally got a job at Cohen, Shapiro, Burger, and Cohen (a prestigious Philadelphia law firm) I was raised to $1.90 an hour and thought I was rich.

You have to remember, though, that you could get a dress for $3, a hat for $1, a pair of LEATHER shoes for $5, and a LEATHER purse for $3. All is relative.

So much for bus travel on the 21 and 31, except -- there's always an except isn't there? Except, one time, I had to work on a Saturday. I had a stomach flu. It was horrible, and I got on the bus at 12th and Market Sts. in Philadelphia, expecting a 45-minute ride to home. I had forgotten that no-one but I was working on a Saturday, and that day, the bus-ride home was only 20 minutes. I was so thankful.

'Nuf said.