“Catching a Ride” 
A Mini-Ethnography of an Interesting Social Setting 
(By Leon Love and Lindsay Forster)

	The Fargo Greyhound bus station was a cold and lonely place at 10:00 on a Tuesday night. The neighborhood it is located in is very desolate, and more than a little unwelcoming. Although there is plenty of traffic, the only businesses that are open at that time are the Metro Area Transit station, which closes at 10:15, and the ABC adult bookstore, open 24 hours. The sounds of the city overpower the area, trains are clearly, and frequently, audible; there are incessant traffic sounds, and the echoes of the voices of people strolling Broadway are heard. The neighborhood does not make the best impression of Fargo, and most Fargoans would probably be embarrassed if they stopped to think of what those departing the incoming busses see. Aside from the desolate landscape, many illegal activities are clearly visible, possible male prostitution or blatant “trolling,” (where men drive around the parking lot of the adult book seeking other willing participants for sex) and obvious drug deals, causing the area to take on an ominous feel.
	Not only does the neighborhood radiate an inhospitable feeling, the station itself is not a very friendly place. There are no telephones or benches outside of the station, so those waiting to get inside have to find somewhere 
else to wait or sit on the cold concrete. There are large banks of windows, which are blocked by huge vents obscuring the view, and giving the station itself an industrial, unwelcoming feel before even entering.  
	Inside the station, the situation is only slightly better. Although there are posters and banners on almost every surface that portray Greyhound as a friendly company (using their trademark Greyhound dogs), and a color scheme that is seemingly very patriotic in red, white, and blue, it is still an uncomfortable place. The station is extremely cold due to the doors of bus docks being open. The bathrooms are spotless but smell so strongly of disinfectant that it is on the clothing of those exiting them. The floor and walls are clean, but everything is old and looks very worn and dingy, and the seats are the hard molded plastic type, which are impossible to sit comfortably in. 
	There are a few amenities: a bank of video games, vending machines dispensing pop, coffee, snacks, and food, condiments, and a microwave. The station also has three payphones, an ATM machine, a change machine, (that only accepts $1 and $5), and a prominent display advertising that they are also a Western Union station. Many of the posters advertise that Greyhound is a “child friendly” company, but there is nowhere a small child could play or rest undisturbed. The stationmaster does not go out of his way to welcome passengers, nor does he seem to care what those in the waiting room are doing; after selling tickets, he disappears until the next bus pulls in.
The first passenger to arrive is a young woman in her twenties accompanied by two older women, possibly her grandmother and mother. While purchasing her tickets, the stationmaster chatted with her and her family for approximately ten minutes before they seated themselves in the waiting area. Soon after, a younger Middle Eastern man comes in and inquires as to how far he could go with the amount of money he has. He is carrying no luggage, and the stationmaster seems very reluctant to give him a ticket. After being pointedly questioned for five full minutes, he purchased a ticket for the next morning, and leaves the station. 
	The next passenger to arrive is a young man that was previously seen sleeping soundly at the MAT station. He apparently arrived on an afternoon bus, and had to wait to board the last bus of the day. He promptly opens the stationmaster’s office door and retrieves a small, worn duffle bag from it. He seats himself, and begins to eat crackers, but while eating, he doses off again, and eventually puts his food away and goes back to sleep. 
A young black man with a large amount of luggage is the next person to arrive. He purchases his ticket, without any conversation from the stationmaster, and begins his wait. The final passenger was a middle-aged woman who was dropped off by her daughter. After purchasing her ticket and having a long, boisterous conversation with the stationmaster, she begins to attempt to engage everyone in conversation. When this does not work, she busies herself by speaking loudly 
on her cell phone.
	The station is very quiet; any noise causes everyone to look, including the creaking of the vents, and the grinding of the vending machine display. No one plays the video games or moves around, except to go outside to smoke or to use the restrooms. When there is conversation, everyone else obviously listens in, but aside from the groups seated together, no one speaks to anyone else. There is a group of three nervous-looking women from out of town. They do not go anywhere alone, and are constantly looking around. Fargo at night is a threatening place to them, or so it seems. 
The other passengers are slightly more at ease; they are accustomed to traveling buy bus, judging by their carry-on luggage, and have possibly been through this station, or others like it before. The young black man, and the older woman on her cell phone, both admitted to those accompanying the researchers that they travel extensively. 
	The stationmaster does not come out of the back to check on those waiting. This may imply that there is not a problem with crime or loitering, attributed no doubt to the uncomfortable chairs, unaccommodating bathrooms, and lack of a television. His treatment of the different passengers was suspect. The white women, who are traditionally the least threatening, garnered the most attention from him. He did not converse with the black man at all, and his treatment of the Middle Eastern man was very odd. The researchers question whether he was treated this way out of fear of terrorism: Was the stationmaster profiling? Are they taught to question people like this? Why no one else? We suppose it is reasonable to question someone who does not care where he is going, nor has no luggage, and wants to leave as soon as possible.
	What amenities that are offered by the station, along with the neighborhood the station is in, seem to speak of a lower class clientele. None of the food costs more than $1.50, the video games are older, the change machine did not accept any bill larger than $5, and there are no reading materials or other creature comforts. It is unlikely that a company with a higher class clientele would be placed in such a neighborhood, not offer comfortable seating, a television, allow their bathrooms to smell so badly, advertise Western Union so prominently, or seem so industrial. It is clear that this station is not out to impress anyone, or even attract business. There appears to be the attitude that those who choose to travel Greyhound do not have other options -nor will they complain.
	When the final arriving bus of the night unloaded, the atmosphere of the station changed. Those departing the bus seemed to be more relaxed, they were more talkative; the noise level and the number of people in the station increased exponentially. The passengers were also friendlier, smiling when smiled at, greeting those waiting in the station, and, while remaining in small, core groups, flowed together freely. It was possible that a large amount of bonding occurred on the bus, and that the group was just relieved to depart the bus for that short time, or possibly, that the late hour made people more relaxed. 
	Those arriving were a diverse group of people, but obviously lower class, carrying older, worn luggage, wearing worn clothing. A few people seemed to have been on the road for quite some time, and one person was wearing obviously soiled clothing, and smelled exceptionally bad. However, a few nicely dressed elderly passengers carried high-end luggage. It was debated among the researchers whether these older people were holdovers from the days where bus travel was more common, and respectable, or if they were holding on to the old notion that one should look his best whilst traveling.
	Many of the passengers were minorities, and most of them were young black men. There were two white men who were obviously affiliated with gangs, and sported gang colors and gang-related tattoos. They were not segregated from the rest of the passengers in any way. The only people that did not mingle with the rest of the group were the elderly, a young black couple with a small child, and a young black mother with her young son and daughter. Some of the passengers were obviously college students, carrying backpacks, and textbooks, but it was impossible to tell much about the other passengers, other than how often they travel, and how far they were traveling, and their probable social class.
	Very few people arriving stayed in Fargo. Most were waiting to board the next bus. Of those that left the station, two were picked up by car, and three called for taxis. Two of the passengers were met by friends, and spent the time between busses in their cars. One young white man brought a fellow passenger with him, a black man, and after introducing everyone, they sat in the car less than five feet from the station entrance and blatantly smoked marijuana. Over half of the passengers awaiting the next bus came outside to smoke and talk to each other, most complaining that they were not prepared for it to be so cold in Fargo (few had jackets). Inside the station, some used the payphones (only three passengers used their cell phones). A few young men played video games, but most either sat or stood inside the station talking and laughing.
	As the station grew increasingly crowded, it became more obvious that the researchers were not passengers, and began drawing attention. We decided that this would be a good time to leave, and soon after our departure, the boarding call for the final bus of the night began.
	Many things can be inferred by these observations, and many points of view and perspectives can be applied to each situation, creating multiple explanations for each interaction. The stationmaster’s behavior alone offers many possible insights. He could have been sexist, speaking more to the women than the men, or racist, questioning the Middle Eastern man, not speaking to the black man. Perhaps he noticed the trepidation of the young white woman and attempted to comfort her, or possibly, he was just indifferent to his position and did not really care about anyone. The interaction, or lack thereof, of the waiting passengers can be construed as racial; there were five white people and one black person; but, it can also be seen as a lack of socialization in this type of setting, because those who travel often were more likely to talk, and move around.
	Those departing from the bus could have been more at ease with each other because they had been forced to socialize for an unknown amount of time, the most likely reason, or because a shared experience created a bond. One thing that seemed clear to both researchers is that the passengers were all of the same social class, or close to it, and this made them more likely to interact, not only because of a common situation, but also because of their common experiences. They were all boarding a bus because they had somewhere to go, and this was, essentially, their only method of travel. This had less to do with race, or the shared situation, than it did with socioeconomic standing.
	Using the basic prompts of body language, clothing, carry-on luggage, and a person’s ease in the situation gave us many clues to the social standing of these passengers. There were no obvious conflicts between passengers; there were no racial remarks made (except for a single elderly woman, who made rude comments about a young black man whose cab showed up before hers); and no one seemed to openly avoid a certain group. When diverse groups converge into a small area, such problems usually arise, but none of that was apparent during this observation, especially after the number of passengers increased.
	While this mini-ethnography did not offer any groundbreaking revelations on human behavior, it did open our eyes to the effects of social class on interaction. It obviously made a difference that each passenger saw the others as peers, not as individual members of a specific group. There were no outsiders. This situation, brought on by being in a lower class, seemed to have brought these people together, and allowed them to interact. If these people were all on a plane, they probably would not spend time together in the terminal; if they had cars to travel in, they would not cross paths; and yet, at a bus station in Fargo, North Dakota, they all stood together and at least became acquainted with one another, if not friends.