The Friend I Made on the Bus

This post was written in English (en_US).

I was browsing the web and I happened to stumble upon this Instagram post. It was a screenshot of a tweet OP posted about two girls on a cruise who became best friends for the day. One of the girls was looking for her best friend that day.

Here is what the post said, if you don't want to open an Instagram link. The post also has the picture of two girls on the cruise sitting next to each other.

in Hawaii in 2006. We were basically best friends for that night so I need y'all to help me find my bestfriend because I miss her and I need to see how she's doing now. Please retweet this so we can be reunited.

This helped me unlock a memory of an experience I had as a young kid. I remember my family and I took the Greyhound bus back from Mexico all the way to Nebraska. This was in the early 2000s. Let me tell you. When you're six or seven on a bus from Southern Mexico to Nebraska, you feel like dying, died, and forgot you died on a 48+ hour (or however long) ride. Maybe I'm being dramatic. It wasn't a pleasant ride, at least most of it.

I remember when the bus made a stop somewhere in Texas possibly in Austin or Dallas. I remember I was already having a bad time since I've been on a bus for an extended amount of time. Then some kid around my age got on the bus with his family. I gave him the nod to acknowledge him. He happened to sit near us. An hour or so had passed and I was curious and was desperate to talk to someone who wasn't in my family. So I said hello to the kid. I don't regret doing so.

When I said hello, right off the bat we hit it off. We were talking about a bunch of nerd stuff that kids our age were interested in.. I remember bringing up our computers and we lost our minds. I was telling him about the iMac G3s I would use at school or how my friend built a small website on his computer. He would tell me about things he'd create on Kid Pix. We also talked about our favorite TV shows, our hobbies, and upbringings. We shared stories. This kid was super cool! I hope he thought I was cool too. We had a grand old time.

At some point, he and his family had to get off to their transfer point or it was their final destination. We said our goodbyes. Then I waved at him, he waved back when he was on the ground. It was a very warm and sad moment to say goodbye to my best friend of that day.

I unfortunately don't remember his name and I doubt he remembers mine. At that time, it wasn't common for young kids to have a cell phone. We didn't exchange numbers or email. I think about this often. I wish I could find out where he is and if he is doing well. Who knows what paths we've taken? Have we crossed paths and not known it? I hope we get to meet someday and this post comes across him and we could reconnect.

If you're out there man, say hello!

Do you have a story similar to this? I'd love to hear from you.

Last edited: 2024-02-24

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