The Wheels on the Bus

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Today, I got on a bus I ride regularly, found a seat and prepared for the twenty minute ride. At the first stop after I got on, a class of children boarded the bus with two teachers. There were, perhaps, twenty children in the group and they appeared to be about kindergarten age, possibly younger. They climbed on the bus happily chattering to each other and sat in the seats available or stood in the area reserved for standing passengers or baby carriages. Yes, that is correct my American friends! These young children, some of whom would be required by law to ride in car seats in the US, got on the bus, sat two to a seat with no seatbelts or stood by the window or in the aisle. Their two teachers stood in the aisle watching them and then herded them off when they reached their stop. I saw the teachers counting and confirming that everyone was off as the bus pulled away from the stop. One little girl waved to me as she was getting off and said, “Do widzenia!” (Good bye!)

I worked for about seven years for the Liberty school district. I worked as the secretary for the preschool in the district and spent hours on the phone with the transportation department to make sure that each child who needed to be in a car seat was in a car seat. I sent lists of birthdays and weights to my co-workers in transportation to make sure each child was as safe as they could be on every school bus. It was a priority and we were confident that each child who needed a car seat had one and each child had a seatbelt.

During my time working at the preschool, there were a few field trips. Classes usually consisted of twelve or fewer students, some with special needs. I don’t remember a single field trip where there were fewer than three adults and often four adults per class. I can’t imagine two teachers taking twenty young children on a city bus.

Now, this was an observation about how things are different here in Warsaw. I suspect that part of the reason, possibly the only reason, those children were on that bus today was to teach them how to ride the bus. Most of them probably do it with their parents on a daily basis. But this was not the first school group I’ve seen on a bus—just the youngest group. By the time those children become teenagers, riding the bus (or the tram, or the Metro) will be second nature to them. I have seen young people standing as they ride the bus or the tram and, like long-time seafarers, they never hold on. They just position themselves and ride. I’ve even seen them stand and read books as they sway along with the vehicle. They probably have no trouble with skateboards, either! I had marveled at the ease of the bus and tram riders but now I think I understand. They’ve been doing it all their lives! For me this is all very new—I got excited the first time I rode a tram, and the first time I managed the bus alone, and the first time I figured out the Metro. For the children I saw today, it is just the way things are and it will always be, “no big deal.”

Do widzenia!