Getting to elementary school

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

6. I rode the public bus in Utica, NY at the age of five.

By myself. Even then, 1955, it was not common. Trust me.

The bus stop was on Genesee street, next to St. Francis de Sales Catholic school. I was in morning kindergarten, and I don't know exactly why I was the only one taking the bus back to North Utica. Anyway, the driver on that route quickly learned that I was okay to take the bus to the stop across from Humphrey Garden on Herkimer Road. Actually, it mattered which bus I caught. One brought me directly across the street from Humphery Garden, another meant I needed to get off at the intersection of Genesee Street and Herkimer road and walk about three blocks home. Keep in mind I was five years old, and very small for my age. But I did learn to negotiate the bus.

At one point, in the middle of the school year, my regular driver was apparently away on vacation. The usual bus drove right past me at my stop. As did the next one. I was standing there at the bus stop, crying, when my older brother, then on post lunch recess, saw me, and came over to see what was wrong. When the next bus came along, he made sure it stopped, put me on, and forcefully told the driver where I was going. He'd have been perhaps 10 years old at the time, but I've always treasured the memory of his taking care of me.