Schoolbus Antics
by Fazia Rizvi
3 October 2003, 6:50 PM

I SO needed that.

My head was pounding from a sinus headache and I was tired and hungry and we'd hit every red light in town despite the fact that we were trying to get somewhere very quickly. I was rapidly approaching blah and grumpy.

But then we got caught behind a long line of school buses waiting to make its way through a four way stop. There were some kids in the back of the last bus, probably middle school age, who started waving at us. What the heck, I waved back. One girl in particular was highly amused and wiggled her fingers some more.

It quickly escalated from there. I wiggled my fingers, they gave a 60's style "peace" sign which I returned and we were all grinning. Now usually this sort of thing kind of ends there, but I flashed the the Vulcan "Live Long and Prosper" V-greeting. (I wasn't entirely sure they'd know what it was.) They recognized it and it cracked them up so much that other kids in the bus started peering through the back of the bus. She started making funny faces so I did the cross-eyed-fingers-in-mouth-tongue-sticking out thing. There were no open windows on the bus (or on our car), so it was all a sort of silent picture show. Still, it was pretty obvious to each of us that we were giggling.

Al of a sudden all the kids heads swiveled forward and some of the kids, who were leaning to look out the back window, took their seats. I could just hear the bus driver, "Okay people, let's settle down now...." Heh.

The whole thing reminded me of the very few times I actually rode a school-bus myself. We were living near Little Rock, Arkansas at the time. We were there for all of three short months, but it was enough time for us to be there when the school year started. Despite the fact that there was an elementary school within walking distance of our apartment building, we ended up being bused to one nearly 30 miles away. (I think it had to do with making sure the schools were integrated.)

The journey to school everyday involved waiting at the bus stop at 6:00am, and then riding onward over a major highway and country roads and through a swampy area to our school. Most of the other kids were veteran bus riders and knew every bump in the road by heart. As we'd approach one particular bump on the swamp-road, the kids in the back of the bus would start bouncing up and down in their seats deliberately. Once the bus hit the bump its rear wheels would actually leave the ground and they'd almost hit the ceiling. Lots of giggling would ensue.

Unfortunately for my sister and I, when the wheels came down they skid a bit from side-to-side, scaring the bejeebers out of the two of us. I did not look forward to that part of the trip as I imagined alligators waiting for us in the swamp beyond the edge of the road (which did not include railings).

Then there was the trip home. That was usually uneventful - except that the very first time we rode the bus we returned without my sister. Even though I'd told the bus driver that my sister hadn't yet gotten on the bus when she checked to see if everyone was there, we didn't linger. I, being only nine years old, didn't know what to do except to wait until we got home and then tell my mom that we hadn't waited for my sister.

She was not happy with the school, and drove all the way back to pick up my rather upset and scared six-year-old sister. It never happened again. (I'm pretty sure my mom has some words with the folks at the school).

It was an interesting experience, but I was quite happy to never have to ride the bus again. My mom or dad always drove us to school before and after that brief stay in Arkansas. Therein lies many more interesting tales - but those will have to wait for another blog entry.