“You'll figure it out.”
- Parent/1960s and 70s
Those of us who rode the school bus back in the 1960s and 70s, especially the country kids… well, we saw and experienced some things that we've locked away in the deepest recesses of our psyches. A yellow bus ride back then was some combination of Animal Farm, A Clockwork Orange and The Wonder Years. You survived by your cunning and wits. If you lived through it until you could drive, you were hardened for just about anything the world could throw at you. There were no safe spaces, trigger warnings or concerned parent interventions. You were on your own, baby, figure it out.
I, a farm boy, had the misfortune of being the first one on in the mornings and the last one off in the afternoons. Each leg was an hour and fifteen minute ride. When I do a little calculating on that I discover that I spent 4,300 hours, or 179 days, riding a school bus during an age when it was essentially The Hunger Games on wheels. Those of you who know me, that probably answers some questions.
On another note, it's football season. If you're a viewer, be sure and play cliche bingo each week and fill out your card with the following tired and overused words and phrases:
Physicality
Skill set
Taking care of the ball
Running downhill
Using his legs
BINGO!