I was perusing the online local newspaper last night, and clicked on an article about a school board meeting over in Bill-Paying Town. Seems that kids are quite happy with the lunch selections being provided by home delivery now. I'm guessing that they're probably things that can be heated at home. Or prepackaged items. Not sure how that stacks up to an actual hot lunch made in the cafeteria. But supposedly the kids approve.
Those kids better not overindulge on their school lunches! Because changes are coming with the school buses. There must have been some heated discussion over bus length, bus width, heavy duty axles, and 77-passenger vs 78-passenger models. Anyhoo, the vote was 5-2 to accept the bid being considered.
HERE'S THE THING!
Part of the discussion concerned the aisle width on the buses. The vehicles being voted on have 14-inch aisles! Did you get that?
A 14-INCH AISLE ON A SCHOOL BUS!
Mrs. HM has never been a starving supermodel. But she HAS walked down a school bus aisle unimpeded. Suffice it to say, school bus aisles back in her day were NOT 14 inches wide! Do you know how narrow that is???
The keyboard for New Delly is 19 inches wide. That's the aisle width on a different bus model that did not get approved. Get a ruler, people! I might not make it down a 19-inch aisle. Don't even think about greasing my ample-rumpused hips and shoehorning me down a 14-inch aisle! Not gonna happen. Good thing I don't ride a school bus.
A board member (probably one of the 2 votes in the 5-2 verdict), pointed out that even if the buses were used to transport elementary students, they still wear backpacks, and could have trouble getting down the aisle in an emergency.
What's next, a cruel chant to bus-shame a student with hips wider than 14 inches?
Fatty, fatty, crocodile
Can't get down the school bus aisle!
Even if I sashshayed sideways down the aisle, I still couldn't make it down that narrow of an aisle. That's a 12 inch ruler plus 2 more!
ReplyDeleteI know that women's shirts are now not as long. Pockets on new women's jeans are barely deep enough to dig a couple of knuckles into. But bus aisles?
Wow! The things I learn on your blog...
Sioux,
ReplyDeleteWell, Madam, I DO provide a public service service.
I can't imagine how a bus driver can sweep out the bus, or move swiftly to break up an altercation, or check all the seats for sleeping children at the end of a run. The bus drivers I know are not svelte.
You'll have to save your sideways sashaying, in your short shirts with hands two-knuckles deep in your jeans pockets...to school buses in districts other than Bill-Paying Town.
14 inches is fine if the kids are only kindergarten age, but ridiculous for everyone else. I measured and my keyboard is 15 inches wide, with the entire laptop being 16 inches. So I measured my table edge. I could get through a 19 inch aisle with about a half inch to spare either side, but if I was carrying stuff, like a full backpack or grocery bags I'd want more space. So I think they need to rethink their decisions. And are they considering scrimping on seat size as well?? Tut Tut (shaking finger here), They'll have kids all squished with butts hanging out into an already too narrow aisle.
ReplyDeleteRiver,
ReplyDeleteI didn't understand the quotes in the local paper. I thought the narrow aisles meant the seats might be bigger, but then one guy pointed out that the bus was narrower. I don't see the advantage in that. Sometimes a bargain is not a bargain.