Tuesday's Trip Down Memory Lane "Late to School"

While doing laundry today, I had a random memory fly across my mind that gave me a good chuckle!

The year was 1987. At that time, my older sister Dawn and I took the city bus to high school every day.

{Now, in order for you to fully appreciate this story, you have to know a little bit about our personalities. We are very different from each other. I have always erred on the cautious side, and she-has not}

It was a typical morning; the bus pulled up and Dawn and I stepped aboard and found our seats. As we were riding along, I happened to take notice of a gentlemen sitting behind the bus drivers seat. I instantly became alarmed when I noticed the shot gun that he was holding in his arms. I also observed him occasionally leaning forward and speaking quietly to the driver. In my mind, we were toast! Without a doubt, I just knew we were being "bus jacked". I nudged my sister in the side and very quietly and firmly informed her that the man in the front of the bus had a gun and that we were going to pull the cord and we were going to get off that bus RIGHT AWAY! I believe her response was something like LOUD laughter and a abrupt "shut up".

I continued to stare at the man while my making my emergency escape plan. I elbowed my sister again and insisted, "We must get off this bus immediately or we are going to die!" This went on for another five minutes as we bickered back and forth.

At this point, our stop was another 4 to 5 miles down the road, but I didn't care. I finally informed her that if she didn't pull the cord to get off the bus, I would. I can't remember who finally pulled it-most likely it was me. The ding sounded (like heavenly bells to my ears) and the bus began to slow down. It pulled over and I began my hasty exit as my sister begrudgingly followed suit. I specifically remember going out the back door of that bus and breathing the fresh air of freedom.

At the moment, it didn't matter that we were a good 2-3 miles from our regular bus stop, I was just so relieved that we weren't still on that "hi-jacked" bus. Well, relieved that is until I saw who got out the front door-it was the man with the shot gun! No lie, apparently I rang the bell at exactly his stop! I immediately started running across the street into a residential neighborhood. I was zigging and zagging like there was no tomorrow. Finally, after a block or two of huffing and puffing, the gun carrying man was no where to be seen. The only thing that either of us could figure was that he apparently lived in the neighborhood.

After walking an extra 30 minutes to school or so, Dawn finally stopped yelling and laughing at me.

We were late to school that day.