Yeah I walked to elementary and junior high school. During my junior and senior years in high school, if the weather was nice and I wasn’t feeling tired, I would walk to high school instead of taking the bus. And it wasn’t a school bus either. Public transportation; I would buy a school bus pass to use every week.
In Junior High, the city line went right between my house and the next one! I walked across this large area with a creek running through it used for cattle grazing. Every once in a while, I had to take a longer route to avoid a grumpy bull. Except for about two months of one school year and up until College, I either walked or biked to school.
Our town had public transportation, and some friends who lived on the other side of town rode a regular, (in the hills beyond the tracks- the ‘rich’ side) public bus to high school. I guess they got some kind of discount. High school was closer for me than the junior high, but still no school bus. About a mile in the other direction was a Levittown like neighborhood of post-war, cookie cutter houses. They got bus service.
I walked 50 miles to school, uphill both ways, through 5 ft drifts of snow, under the blazing sun, carrying my younger siblings on my back, while doing my paper route, and beating back grizzly bears with a wet noodle… You tell kids that now adays and they won’t believe you…
Kindergarten, I walked in good weather, or was in a car pool. Too close for a bus by the rules of the day. Sometimes, mom would put my baby sister in a stroller, drag my middle sister along, and meet me halfway. Not the absolute safest for a little kid, but if the cars (not many) didn’t get you, no problem. In those days, I used to walk a couple blocks to the barber shop by myself once a week, too.
Took a bus for the next couple years, but then the School Board built a new Elementary School that was well within walking distance in good weather. Mom had her own car by then, so she handled bad weather. Rode my bike when possible, too.
Back on the bus for Jr. High and High School. A good long walk, but I did it a few times. I don’t remember riding my bike, but could have. (Still going to the same barber shop then – walked or rode my bike.) Somewhere along the line, in High School, I got a driver’s license, and while I only took a car to school a few times, riding the bike to the barber’s ended….
(Still going to the same barber shop after more than 60 years!)
Our daughter used the same building that I did for elementary school and Middle School (“Jr. High” when I did it), and was a walker to the Elementary School. About her second year in Elementary School (the wife and I took her to school – she never walked), some guy was working the neighborhood trying to entice kids into his car. The School Board realized that the busses were passing everybody’s house, more or less, anyway, so unless you lived within sight of the building, you rode the bus thereafter..
After that, a bus, my wife and I, or a girlfriend’s car or parents handled it. The older she got, the less of the bus. When she got her own car, that was the end of public transportation….
She refuses to believe the five miles uphill in the morning and five miles uphill in the afternoon. Probably because she used the same buildings….
johnzakour Premium Member almost 11 years ago
Dads can be so unfair….
geopardy almost 11 years ago
Touchy too.
Stellagal almost 11 years ago
Sometimes I wonder how I got so old, especially when watching my daughter who has endless amount of energy (until she crashes).
cbrsarah almost 11 years ago
Yeah I walked to elementary and junior high school. During my junior and senior years in high school, if the weather was nice and I wasn’t feeling tired, I would walk to high school instead of taking the bus. And it wasn’t a school bus either. Public transportation; I would buy a school bus pass to use every week.
Comic Minister Premium Member almost 11 years ago
Sorry Maria.
ChessPirate almost 11 years ago
In Junior High, the city line went right between my house and the next one! I walked across this large area with a creek running through it used for cattle grazing. Every once in a while, I had to take a longer route to avoid a grumpy bull. Except for about two months of one school year and up until College, I either walked or biked to school.
Thomas Scott Roberts creator almost 11 years ago
Our town had public transportation, and some friends who lived on the other side of town rode a regular, (in the hills beyond the tracks- the ‘rich’ side) public bus to high school. I guess they got some kind of discount. High school was closer for me than the junior high, but still no school bus. About a mile in the other direction was a Levittown like neighborhood of post-war, cookie cutter houses. They got bus service.
starfighter441 almost 11 years ago
I walked 50 miles to school, uphill both ways, through 5 ft drifts of snow, under the blazing sun, carrying my younger siblings on my back, while doing my paper route, and beating back grizzly bears with a wet noodle… You tell kids that now adays and they won’t believe you…
SMMAssociates almost 11 years ago
Kindergarten, I walked in good weather, or was in a car pool. Too close for a bus by the rules of the day. Sometimes, mom would put my baby sister in a stroller, drag my middle sister along, and meet me halfway. Not the absolute safest for a little kid, but if the cars (not many) didn’t get you, no problem. In those days, I used to walk a couple blocks to the barber shop by myself once a week, too.
Took a bus for the next couple years, but then the School Board built a new Elementary School that was well within walking distance in good weather. Mom had her own car by then, so she handled bad weather. Rode my bike when possible, too.
Back on the bus for Jr. High and High School. A good long walk, but I did it a few times. I don’t remember riding my bike, but could have. (Still going to the same barber shop then – walked or rode my bike.) Somewhere along the line, in High School, I got a driver’s license, and while I only took a car to school a few times, riding the bike to the barber’s ended….
(Still going to the same barber shop after more than 60 years!)
Our daughter used the same building that I did for elementary school and Middle School (“Jr. High” when I did it), and was a walker to the Elementary School. About her second year in Elementary School (the wife and I took her to school – she never walked), some guy was working the neighborhood trying to entice kids into his car. The School Board realized that the busses were passing everybody’s house, more or less, anyway, so unless you lived within sight of the building, you rode the bus thereafter..
After that, a bus, my wife and I, or a girlfriend’s car or parents handled it. The older she got, the less of the bus. When she got her own car, that was the end of public transportation….
She refuses to believe the five miles uphill in the morning and five miles uphill in the afternoon. Probably because she used the same buildings….