Assignment #1

The Yellow Bus Blues

Broghan Erland

There is a seemingly never-ending list of what Grad’s hate; the frustration of riding the bus is the epitome of this list for me.  I moan and groan each time I have to trudge mindlessly and obediently up the steps so akin to the grey of a penitentiary building. I’ve been enduring the insanity of the school bus for six years. Back in the day, the bus was split into 3 sections: The Youngin’s, The Seniors and The Unfortunates’. The Unfortunates’ who had been late arriving to the bus and were left to bear being squashed like sardines between the two. For years, The Youngin’s sat in the front; shyly giggling, jumping seats and passing notes. That was me six years ago. I was scared into silence by the Grads in the back; there were always five seniors that had to have been imported football players. Thusly we kept to the front, and they ruled the back of the bus. Six years later, as I enter my grad year I again find myself sitting quietly in my seat. I no longer giggle but since I don’t resemble a running back, I resort to glaring at The Youngin’s surrounding me. I have the misfortune of being the only Grad who takes my bus. I’m uncertain as to how this tragedy befell me. I loathingly wonder if that little yellow bus some how coerced my fellow students in my residential area to move, or if I was simply doomed by fate. Personally, I blame the bus. My daily routine imposes one hour of this torture, elastic bands fire through the air and backpacks are swung like war hammers as the Youngin’s move down the aisle. I fidget with my phone counting the minutes until the ride is over. There aren’t many billboards in Penticton but I’ve easily read them all. One could suppose I merely drive myself to school. Today’s Grads take borrowing a car from their parents for granted; rarely do I get that privilege. I long for those mornings that I fly past my foes waiting at the side of the street as I make my way to school by car. Graduating year means one thing in terms of my transportation; it’s my last year of having the yellow bus blues!