I can’t tell you what woke me up that day. It wasn’t the noise on the bus, because a lot of the other passengers had fallen asleep along with me and my friends. And I can’t say I felt the bus jerk as it moved between lanes as if it was the size of a sports car, and not a large bus for transport.  

All I know is at some point on our way to New York City, I woke up to find our bus moving at warp speed down the highway. The world outside was a blur as we passed by, and a moment of panic rose within my chest. I picked my head up off the window where it was resting and looked around at the other passengers. Like I said, many of them were asleep. But those who were awake seemed unfazed that our bus driver thought he was in the Daytona 500, not driving down I-95. 

I looked at my friend Jake,* asleep at my side, then over at Clarissa* in the seat in front of me. Her head was resting against the window and I could tell she too was in a deep sleep. I could wake them, but what could we do about our bus driver thinking he was Dale Earnhardt Jr?

My friends and I were on the Fung Wah bus. A bus that would take you from China Town in Boston to China Town in New York City for ten dollars. With all of us recently being out of college, we didn’t  have a lot of money, so the price was right. Only we hadn’t yet discovered the truth of that old adage “you get what you pay for.” We were just thinking about our trip. 

My first year out of college, working in the bookstore, would have been close to miserable if it hadn’t been for Jake and Clarissa. Clarissa worked in the back office, while Jake worked up at the front of the store. Both were around my age, and were friends before I met them. Everyday, they had a standing lunch date and for some reason, early on, they invited me to be a part of it. 

My daily lunches with them were a lifesaver. They helped me get out of the text book department, get my mind off my future, and even got me out in the sunshine on nice days. For almost a whole year, we had lunch together everyday.

When we find ourselves in a hard, unplanned space, very often our first instinct is to escape. Only as hard as it is to believe, in some cases, we are exactly where we’re meant to be. My year working in the bookstore taught me a lot of things. But it also showed me God’s kindness in providing me friends for the journey. 

Just because we may want to be somewhere else, doesn’t mean there aren’t incredible people, right in front of us, who we should get to know.

In many ways, because I wanted a different job, I could have closed myself off to those I was working with. But if I had, I would have been the one missing out. Just because we may want to be somewhere else, doesn’t mean there aren’t incredible people, right in front of us, who we should get to know. 

In late spring, Jake and Clarissa graduated—he with his masters, and her with her BA. Come July, they were looking all over for real jobs. While a job in Pennsylvania I had secretly applied to months ago, was suddenly looking like a possibility. Our time together was coming to an end, so we decided to go on an adventure to New York City. 

Looking back, it might not have been my wisest moment. But that morning on the bus, I decided not to wake my friends. Instead, I leaned my head back against the window, and closed my eyes. Then I said a prayer of protection over our bus before falling back to sleep.

Thankfully, our bus driver got us to New York City in one piece. We had a memorable day in the city, and then took a different mode of transportation back to Boston. Later, the Fung Wah was shut down when it came to light—after a few scary accidents—that not all their drivers had their licenses. I am so thankful I’m alive to tell this story. But I am also incredibly grateful for the gift of friendship in unexpected places.

Where have you found friendship in unexpected places?

Who in your life now, do you need to take the time to get to know?

* I’ve changed my friends names because if these stories become a part of a book, I’d like to protect their anonymity. 

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