Bus Dating

The past couple months of vintage bus shopping has felt much more like the delicate process of  looking for an ideal life mate.

Vintage buses, like people, each have a life story. A personality and unique style. They each have their quirks, their potentials, their benefits and their problem areas. Just as there is no perfect and ideal life partner, there is no absolutely perfect bus.

They each have their own relationship history, some have been treated well and some have scars they will need help healing from.  It’s a game of finding the right balance and knowing where you are willing to compromise and where you are not.

Trying to stay rational and not getting wrapped up in falling in love right off the bat and having that cloud your judgement.

Perhaps a potential match comes to us by looking at online profiles on various matchmaking sites, or via a referral from a friend. We extend our search from just what is currently around us to country wide – greatly widening our options.  But presenting the logistical challenge of gathering enough information before investing in traveling to see potential candidates.

Our database of candidates grows and grows.

We read descriptions, and are intrigued. We look at undersized photos that pique our interests… this one has some sweet curves that whet our appetites.

Some listings are fairly comprehensive and give us enough basic information to know if its worthwhile striking up a conversation. We know that this one purrs like a kitten (a common phrase we encounter, and boy are we glad that Kiki never purrs like a 2-stroke diesel engine!), has a lot of energy but perhaps needs some updating.

Others are more coy and reveal little upfront. They’re the shy type, and need a little more coaxing to open up and share. So we drop an introductory e-mail.

• What are your dimensions?
• How old are you?
• Where are you located?
• Do you smoke?
• What do you look like?

And then we ask for pictures. A couple are sent, but they are obviously glamour shots from a few years ago. Pretty, but we want to know what is true today. Can you send something more recent? Maybe something more… intimate? Something to show us what you’re  made of inside and out?

Hey, lets quit emailing and talk on the phone. We have a really nice conversation and learn a lot about each other. We flirt a little bit about what each other wants next in life, and we might even talk about lubrication. She reveals that she once took on an entire football team. We google her and find out about scandals in her past.. did she leave it out intentionally?

We set a date to meet in person. The anticipation builds up. Will she be as nice in person? Will the first meeting be telling enough to know if a second date is worthwhile? Maybe a potential doesn’t quite meet all our criteria – perhaps too big for our liking. But we go for a ride anyway. It’s a fun fling, but there is disappointment that this won’t be a long term thing. Size does matter, apparently.

So we move on to the next candidate. Repeating the process.  After the first meeting is set and travel arrangements made, she gets cold feet – and calls it off.  Is she afraid we’ll see her for what she really is, is she intimidated that we’re seeing other candiates?

Another interesting candidate moves a notch further up our list, but then finds her ideal mate with someone else.

We travel across country to see an intriguing potential, only to be disappointed that she’s not everything we were lead to believe.  A closer inspection reveals more problems than we are potentially prepared to take on in a long term relationship.

Yup, we’re bus dating.

And it’s a lengthy rollercoaster ride full of the ups and downs of anticipation, excitement and heartbreak.