Bus or Bust

Every morning on my way to work I pass a school bus (the totally legal way) with a bunch of parents standing outside the bus waiting for their wee ones to drive off.

It's quite a beautiful picture when I'm not trying to refrain from cussing when parents park on the wrong side of the road or let the kids dash into the street without warning to any other drivers. It's actually a kind of dangerous intersection with the kids and the cars and the bus...not the point of my post.

I love passing by seeing parents of all races standing together laughing, loving and waving. We're fortunate in this country to know other culture. I feel educated and embrassive (not abrasive, though a personality test once showed I might be....

Canada, a mosaic of diversity.

I remember my bus days well but not because they went well. The bus was a frightening place unless you had status. Status as in you knew what 2x2 was or could add really well or you faked that you did and could get a way with it. That goes a little something like this: "YA WELL, DO YOU KNOW WHAT 12846 PLUS 367498 is? NO? I DO...*oh my gosh I can't believe they didn't ask me if I did... hehe!* WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?"

I got on the bus by myself and that's where I think I developed my habit of lateness. I worried about making it on time, where to sit, sneaking the best part of my lunch to eat in the morning, whether or not the girl who looked like she was in the Brady Bunch Family would remember that I told her that and if I'd get off in time or at the right stop. This was just elementary school. High School transit posed it's own problems. Mostly whether I should tell the boys smoking up in the back to open a window or not so the bus didn't get hot boxed.

I thought that worrying was something new to my life but looking at this post it's safe to say that I've been a nervous wreck since the 90's.

I'm glad when I leave for work in the morning I smile at the bus now. A 'shout out' to the parents holding onto the memories of their babies leaving for school and a 'good luck' to all those kids battling to get to the back of the bus and top of the food chain.