Friday, September 08, 2006

Stupid Bus Numbers

As a kid I never remembered my bus number on the first day of school. When I got on the bus to school that morning, I was still in my sleep. I’d have climbed aboard a garbage truck if it had stopped at the right street corner. It was never until directly after school that I remembered how important that little number is. Some kids dread going “back to school.” For me the nightmare was getting home again.

Why are school buses identical? Is that some kind of joke? Wouldn’t it be easier if one bus was green, one was a double-decker, and one had a spoiler and a disco ball? If I rode a bus to school that had a giant unicorn painted on the side, I bet I could find that bus again when it came time to return home.

Identical buses… what a terrible thing to do to kids. There are lots of other terrible things you can do to kids, but I’ll save those for another day.

28 comments:

Sam Nielson said...

Yes!! And it got even worse when they started using two sets of numbers with a dash in the middle. At the very least they need to use symbols instead. So you identify your bus by the image on front, whether a square, circle, star, rainbow, skull, or pentagram.

In other news, I saw a bus hit a motorcycle yesterday. Amazingly, the bike driver seemed okay afterward. The motorcycle itself didn't fare so well.

Hans said...

lol that's funny! Great illustration with nice colors and good composition. Very appealing.

Have a great weekend,

Hans

afroman said...

haha this looks great! nice variation in style. i really like the composition too.

Anonymous said...

Really cool style, Shane! Looks like something you'd see on TV (Foster's!). - Danielle

Kevin Keele said...

This does have a bit of a "Foster's" vibe. I like it a lot.
I never lived far away enough from my school as a kid to ride the bus. I used to be kind of jealous of kids who got to while I was always walking or riding my bike. Your post has shown me that maybe my bus-less methods of getting to school weren't so bad. Thank you, Shane.

Jarrett said...

Hey Shane, great piece here. I can totally understand your pain. I took school buses right up until I finished high school *tear*

Joe said...

Funny stuff. Unfortunately I never had bus problems so I can't really relate. I was too busy walking uphill both ways to school in 3 feet of snow. I really like the bus designs, very nice.

Ben Reynolds said...

ahaha..So true! i've been there too man...nice job, looks cool.

Ryan Wood said...

Hah, you captured how stupid those bus numbers really are, that they contained about 50 numbers. They couldn't just shorten it to--BUS NO. 9? Good stuff, Shane.

Unknown said...

hahahahaha so awesome! I almost forgot my own fears about gettin on the wrong bus...thanks for dredgin that one up ;)

I got heart burn and a tension head ache just thinkin about those days

amazing with the stories Shane ...wow

Brian Cutler said...

What about the dreaded "bus safety film" day that was sure to come at least once a year. A day where we were forced to watch happy and innocent children die in horrible ways because they didn't obey the bus safety rules. Ok, so the films didn't show any blood and gore, but I'm still emotionally scarred because of them. Love the Art Shane!

Halya said...

I told you I'd be back! Wahahaha! I really like all of your character designs. I don't know what word to use to describe them right now, but I like 'em all :D

Jo Bling said...

Wow! Nice bold designs, Shane. Very nice indeedy, sir.

Ken said...

I feel your pain! cool and funny pic mate! diggin your rabbits below too

Audrey said...

This has such great depth and it's definitely something we all have experienced! I like how the buses are like gazing monsters. Thanks for the comments and support! :)

Carol Roque said...

that must be why i was always afraid of rding in one!


great job in illustrating this!! those buses definately look like monster!

Ron Jensen said...

Wow. this looks great. Did you use flash to do this? Rad story too. Poor kid. Thanks for the visit to my gallery.

aeneadellaluna said...

I never had a bus to school.. I used to walk or my parents would take me..here in Portugal there isn't that costume :) which is nice.. :) don't complaint..at least you have a bus!

Katie McDee said...

Great illo! I love the numbers on the busses and the overall compo. Love your blog too!

ChatRabbit said...

Ha! Now that's a fun interpretation of the theme! So true, too!

Catnapping said...

hehehe. i love that your bus' numbers are so alike. imagining the dylexic kid on that one cracked me up (two of my brothers were dyslexic.)

when i was in school we had to travel off post in busses. but the biggest number was 20. so it wasn't too hard to remember. and they were all coming back to the same base anyway.

life was simpler in those days. LOL

ELLA ELVIANA said...

haha, i never thought school busses could be so dreaded there (we never experienced any school bus)! nice idea.

Jannie aka Chickengirl said...

ahh! I've got my own nightmare story about school buses when I first came to the US for school. I am all for the giant unicorn painted on the side!

Jim Pearson said...

Nice job - the sense of the little kid being dwarfed is just great - really strong piece.

lili said...

Very true and very funny.Great illo. Love the near panic in the kids body language.

Larry Lee said...

This one made me laugh out loud. I thought it was pretty good when I first looked at it. It became hilarious when I read the numbers on the buses. This is so true to life!

arvindh said...

wow great detail!

Michelle Lana said...

Hehe...funny take! Ya, I hated the bus too :)