How not to stop a bus

Since the dawn of time, Man himself has puzzled over this very question. How does one stop a moving school bus? Well, take it from me: running at side of the bus wildly with a laptop satchel over one shoulder and a schoolbag over the other, waving papers in the air, is not the way to do it. Trust me, I know. Throwing oneself into traffic may work for Gonzo, but it doesn’t work too well for me.

It started like this: my friends, Vivike and Crystal, and myself were heading for the bus turnaround, where we would wait for our bus. At the turnaround, Vivike picks up a few scattered pieces of lined paper and remarks that it looks like her project. She, Crystal, and our friend Cortney had an English project, and Cortney was supposed to take said papers home over the weekend.

We look up, and lo and behold, Cortney’s bus is pulling around to leave. This is where I take the papers and sort of charge at the side of the bus as it turns out of the turnaround. It literally passes next to me, so I turn to try and avoid it, and I fall in the snow (with two bags).

As I trudge back, defeated, Viv points out that the bus has, in fact, stopped. So Crystal takes the papers onto the bus and gives them to Cortney, after which the bus starts moving again. I walk back to Viv, who is standing there (thanks for picking up my water bottle, Viv!), and who remarks, “Isn’t Crystal still on the bus?” Cortney’s bus takes her all the way out to Kakabeka, which is a rather long drive.

Luckily the bus stopped a few metres down the road and let Crystal off. After which we proceeded to discuss how that entire episode had made our day (if not our week) while waiting for and while on our own bus.

Note to self: next time, ditch bags before attempting to stop a moving vehicle with wild arm movements.