Dude, Where's My Bus Part 2

We drove onto the HOV lane and set forth towards the destinations. We went through several commercial areas before passing up Greenspoint Mall. We drove into the Aldine area and made a right. At this point the bus driver informed us that is was the end of the line. Now, I don't know if any of the readers out there are familiar with the area between Aldine and Greenspoint, but it is not a place to be unexpectedly dropped in to. But regardless of how I or the other 10 or so passengers felt, we all had to get off and find a way to our destinations. As I walked off of the bus, a few guys had some choice words to tell the driver, and after he hammered everything out with them, I asked him if there was another route I could take to reach my destination. "Young lady hang a left at the street up there and wait at the stop. Another bus will come by to take you where you need to go." I thanked him and as I walked toward the marker I looked up how far away I was from where I wanted to be. A mere 4.5 miles!! Another 5mins down the road and I would've been knee deep in cinnamon cupcakes. I made my way to the bus stop and noticed a guy following me. I was a little caught off guard at first but then I recognized him from the bus. We exchanged glances and took a seat on the bench. He asked me in broken English, "This bus to Bush?" I told him yea, the bus we were waiting on ends at the Bush Intercontinental Airport. I checked the bus schedule and as it turned out, the next bus wasn't scheduled to come for another 45mins. I determined that walking would take even longer, so I slumped  back into the bench and prepared myself for the wait. Looking around, I remembered the guy sitting next to me. He seemed like a cool dude, so I decided to strike up a conversation. As it turned out he was on his way back home to Tokyo, Japan. He was visiting a few friends on holiday (as he called it). We must have looked like an odd pair, sitting there at the bus stop in a high crime area laughing and carrying on like good friends, but the time soon passed and a while later the promised bus came around the corner and came to a stop in front of us. I took my usual spot nearest to the door and bid the fellow traveller goodbye as he made his way to the back of the bus. I caught the eye of the bus driver, which was strange considering he was supposed to be looking at the road. The usual Rice U/basketball questions arose, as I had on some of my Rice travel gear. The driver went on to say he was originally from Maryland and made his way down here playing collegiate basketball. What surprised me was that he said it was perhaps the worst mistake of his life.