death by bus?

while i have a taste for the finer things and am more than willing to shell out for certain things- an amazing meal, a pair of good running shoes, an excellent hair cut and color- i am extremely cheap about others. this is why i almost never take cabs, will never own an "it" bag, and bring my lunch to work every day. my mom once chided me for asking for a cup of hot water which i would use with my own tea bags (why pay $1.50 for a bag that costs a fraction of that?).

this is also why i take the chinatown bus whenever it's time to visit my big brother in philly. it may gag you with it's intense dirty, wet sock odor; overheat during the summertime causing the driver to pull over and stop the car for 10 minutes which turns into 30 minutes because some idiot is taking her time to buy stuff at the convenience store and almost breaks down because the driver turns the AC on intermittenly because the passengers all gripe about the heat even though this will just cause the bus to overheat again and prolong everyone's sweaty misery; and be filled with loud, middle aged chinese people that make it nearly impossible to nap.

. . .BUT it costs a mere $10 each way. and at $4+ a gallon. . . it ain't so bad.