Back in the day — or way back in the day depending on your age — the region, nation, and world were not connected by the internet, and social media was not a thing except maybe in some science fiction movie. Television, radio, and newspapers were the news sources of the day. I didn’t really know that much about any of it, as I didn’t have time to read a paper even if we got one, which we didn’t. And if news did happen to come on the radio and interrupt my music, I turned it to another station.
After I’d worked at Pizza Q and then Mac’s Truck Stop for a few years, I ended up getting a job at Union Bus Station (thank you, again, Danny Brazell, for alerting me to that job). Just in case you don’t know — and you won’t if you’re under 50 years of age — traveling by bus was a thing back then. It was a convenient and inexpensive way for people to travel long distances. Thus, the bus station was a very busy place, especially right before the buses were scheduled to arrive. Yes, people waited until the last minute to do things back then, too.
I remember schedules that had people leaving on the 7:25 p.m. bus from Magnolia to Memphis, Tennessee, which connected with buses going non-stop to Chicago, Detroit, Nashville, Louisville, and many other places north and east that had an arrival sometime the next morning. One slept all night on the bus, let someone else do the driving, and there one was the next day at the destination. We had other buses that went west to Dallas which connected to buses heading to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Phoenix, for example, though you didn’t get to these places the next morning due to longer distances. Other than flying, which was expensive, this was the preferred method of long-distance travel at that time. At least for folks of modest means, which tended to be the vast majority in those days. At least around here. And not everyone had a vehicle back then, either, but that’s another story.
Because we had all these buses coming from places like Dallas, Memphis, and other large markets, it provided a quick connection for freight and other items that were time sensitive. For example, fresh flowers would come to the bus station every morning during the week to quickly and inexpensively supply the various flower shops in town. That allowed the business people here in Magnolia to sell a fresh product and gave folks here access to the best. The bus station was quite the asset to the community, though most weren’t aware of that. It also provided a quick method to get freight from one place to the other.
Anyway, because buses could get things from one market to the other quickly, it was only natural that newspapers would be included. So, we had a news stand inside the bus station that was quite popular. For instance, we had the Commercial Appeal out of Memphis, the Dallas Morning News, the Wall Street Journal, the Sunday New York Times, regional papers such as the Arkansas Gazette, the Arkansas Democrat, the Shreveport Times, and, of course, our local favorite the Banner-News.
We had a number of customers who came in daily to get these newspapers — some because they were originally from these cities or had lived in them over the years, others to get a perspective on news they couldn’t get anywhere else. I remember one gentleman in particular who would come in every day to pick up a Memphis Commercial Appeal. After a while, we began holding papers back for our regular customers so they would be sure to get a copy of their favorite newspaper.
This was all so neat to me as a person who had not been exposed to news in this way. So, I started reading these newspapers in my spare time (don’t none of you ever tell Joe Byrd about this), and that gave me a new perspective. That could be the reason I became so fascinated with the news and was most likely the reason I secretly wanted to be a reporter.
I can honestly say that I was treated like a prince when I worked at the bus station and, for some reason, I had more money then than I’ve ever had in my life. And when I say more, I don’t mean in actual dollar terms, but in money I had available to spend after I paid all my bills, etc. — what people call disposable income these days. My car payment was a massive $40. Tuition at Southern State College was $175 per semester, but I had a scholarship that paid for that. Books were around $30, and I had to pay for those, so I didn’t get off scot free. But I did work seven days a week for the most part, so free time was at a premium.
Nowadays, I look back with fond memories of those days and realize how much fun I had working at the bus station. There were people like C.Z. Payne who made it even better. He never failed to guide me in the right direction and he made me laugh more times than I can count. Though I wasn’t supposed to, I helped him unload many a bus. We got things done as quickly and efficiently as possible, and we did them right.
The boxes of flowers were left outside because we knew the ladies at the various flower shops would be rolling through shortly after the buses arrived, and the passengers’ luggage and other freight was brought inside for pick-up. I don’t ever remember having so much fun working anywhere. It was a wonderful life for more reasons than that, and I can say with some confidence that it was one of the best times of my life. I’ve been blessed with much more over the years, but I still look back and relish those memories of Union Bus Station.