A Reason to Ride the Bus
by: Jerry Roseberry
Our home is one short block from Palmer Stone Elementary School and before it closed we were accustomed to seeing children in our yard walking to and from school.
Just down the street from our house lived a young family that included a five year old boy we all knew by his nickname Opie – named after the son (Ron Howard) of television’s Sheriff Andy Taylor (Andy Griffith). During the day and early evening Opie could be seen riding his bicycle up and down the street and through our yard as well as that of our neighbors.
Conversations with Opie were always interesting because you never knew what he was going to say. If he saw me working in my yard he would ride his bike over and begin asking the typical questions for a five year old, “What are you doing?” “Why are you doing that?” “Do you like doing that?” “Can I help you do that?” “Can I ride your lawn mower?” Then there were times when he wanted to tell me something.
One day I was working in my back yard and Opie rode up on his bike. He told me he would be graduating from kindergarten soon and he was already looking forward to being in the first grade. I told him that it was good that he liked school because it is important and if he studied and made good grades, good things would happen for him. Then he set the record straight.
Opie wasn’t looking forward to school. He was looking forward to going to school. Hesitant to ask the difference, I did anyway. And that is when he explained the difference. It was the “going” part that he looked forward to because he was going to ride the bus with his friend.
I pointed out that he lived just one block from the school and he couldn’t ride the bus even if he wanted to. He corrected me. “Yes I can, and I know because my friend who is graduating from the first grade told me I could.” Seeing that I could not possibly compete with someone who has just graduated from the first grade, I asked, “Why do you want to ride the bus?”
“My friend told me if I ride the bus they will let me smoke cigars and cuss!” This is when I asked if this is the same friend that just graduated from the first grade and of course it was.
A few days later I had an opportunity to talk with the school superintendent at a Rotary Club meeting and asked if he was aware that first graders were given cigars and allowed to cuss if they rode the bus. He didn’t know that.
Just down the street from our house lived a young family that included a five year old boy we all knew by his nickname Opie – named after the son (Ron Howard) of television’s Sheriff Andy Taylor (Andy Griffith). During the day and early evening Opie could be seen riding his bicycle up and down the street and through our yard as well as that of our neighbors.
Conversations with Opie were always interesting because you never knew what he was going to say. If he saw me working in my yard he would ride his bike over and begin asking the typical questions for a five year old, “What are you doing?” “Why are you doing that?” “Do you like doing that?” “Can I help you do that?” “Can I ride your lawn mower?” Then there were times when he wanted to tell me something.
One day I was working in my back yard and Opie rode up on his bike. He told me he would be graduating from kindergarten soon and he was already looking forward to being in the first grade. I told him that it was good that he liked school because it is important and if he studied and made good grades, good things would happen for him. Then he set the record straight.
Opie wasn’t looking forward to school. He was looking forward to going to school. Hesitant to ask the difference, I did anyway. And that is when he explained the difference. It was the “going” part that he looked forward to because he was going to ride the bus with his friend.
I pointed out that he lived just one block from the school and he couldn’t ride the bus even if he wanted to. He corrected me. “Yes I can, and I know because my friend who is graduating from the first grade told me I could.” Seeing that I could not possibly compete with someone who has just graduated from the first grade, I asked, “Why do you want to ride the bus?”
“My friend told me if I ride the bus they will let me smoke cigars and cuss!” This is when I asked if this is the same friend that just graduated from the first grade and of course it was.
A few days later I had an opportunity to talk with the school superintendent at a Rotary Club meeting and asked if he was aware that first graders were given cigars and allowed to cuss if they rode the bus. He didn’t know that.