School bus backs into house

[Aragarthiel]

I swear, you can't make this stuff up.

During my last year of high school, I rode the bus to school. Now, in the mornings, the bus would arrive at my stop packed with kids, and the next stop would be at the nearby elementary school to drop off those kids. In the afternoon, it went in reverse, so I'd be sitting in an empty bus most of my ride to and from school. At the elementary school, the buses lined up along the side of the building to let the students on, then there was a large area for them to turn around and head back out.

One day, apparently the bus driver for the rear bus left his bus and didn't put it in park or anything, and it rolled backwards across the road and INTO A HOUSE! None of the kids were hurt but that house got the wrecked part of it remodeled, I'm assuming paid for by either the district or the bus driver himself.

[Gilhelmi]

That is one way to lose your job quickly.

[cindybubbles]

Wanna bet that some of the kids took pictures of the wreckage with their cell phones?

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Wanna bet that some of the kids took pictures of the wreckage with their cell phones?

There might not have been camera phones back when the OP was in school. I know way back when I was still dealing w/teachers, other students, et al we didn't have cell phones available to the general public (the infamous Motorola DynaTac brick came out in the early 80's.)

Of course there was that time when I was in middle school when we had an incident where a city bus (then operated by the local power company before the city took it over in the late 80's) plowed through the front of a house and the sound traveled through the neighborhood.

Turned on the tv to Channel 2 and heard there was live coverage of the incident up on Bessemer Avenue (and I had to walk past this to get to school, which was 2 blocks from where my street ran into Bessemer) and sure enough, on live color tv, the tail end of a city bus sticking out of the front of someone's home.

Luckily nobody was injured, other than the front of the house, which was eventually repaired. And a tow truck had just cleared the bus out of the yard right before I made it around the corner so I didn't have to dodge it and walk into traffic just to get to school (school was on the same side of the road) but the mess it made took quite a while to get cleared away and everything back to normal.

Never heard what happened to the driver after the incident. My best guess is he probably didn't have a job for much longer after that.

[Gilhelmi]

I like how you stressed "Live Color TV". I think some of the younger members do not fully understand how amazing the speed of technologies development in the last 60 years.

I am only 30, and I am still amazed that you can buy a real-non toy-computer for under $500. My phone can do more, faster, then my first desktop from only 15 years ago. My father had a Bag phone for the truck (20 years ago). It was 2'x1'x3'', it had to be plugged in to work (via, what we used to call the cigarette lighter plug, that was what it was used for back then). Best of all, it had an external antenna you had to put on the roof of the truck (and it was 50/50 whether you got a signal then).

[DGoddessChardonnay]

I am only 30, and I am still amazed that you can buy a real-non toy-computer for under $500. My phone can do more, faster, then my first desktop from only 15 years ago. My father had a Bag phone for the truck (20 years ago). It was 2'x1'x3'', it had to be plugged in to work (via, what we used to call the cigarette lighter plug, that was what it was used for back then). Best of all, it had an external antenna you had to put on the roof of the truck (and it was 50/50 whether you got a signal then).

Technology has changed dramatically since I started high school (I started 9th grade in 1983.)

You mention the bag phones: those were a bit cumbersome thinking back on those. My mom's first cell phone was one of the bag style that plugged into the car via the cigarette lighter (paid 20 bucks for it at a yard sale back around 1996 or so.) The handheld phones were just then becoming more affordable and available.

Which we ended up w/2 of them a few days later after my Mom and my aunt (her oldest sister) went to go see about getting the bag phone activated and service turned on (360 Communications was our service provider, the predecessor of Alltel) and she was able to get 2 handheld phones w/a 2 year contract for almost free.

My aunt got the Motorola TeleTac (it had a large amber display that she could easily read) and I was given the Nokia brick phone. That thing had IIRC a 10 number memory and speed dial . . . I thought I was in hog heaven at the time.

Now almost 20 years later I'm on my 2nd iPhone and can't imagine leaving home without it.

[Aragarthiel]

There might not have been camera phones back when the OP was in school.

I'm not even out of my 20s, thanks.

[notalwaysright]

Looks like camera phones didn't come out in the US until about 2002, but were pretty expensive and didn't become crazy popular until 03-04. I'm 28 and graduated in 05'. Although I did have a cell phone, it didn't have a camera, and I don't think I knew anyone who did. Now, a digital camera I did have, and I did bring it to school because I was in DECA and documented various school activities. So there would have been the possibility of taking a picture, and that sounds just crazy enough that I would have.

[Shalom]

. I think some of the younger members do not fully understand how amazing the speed of technologies development in the last 60 years.

I work with a tech who is almost exactly half my age. He grew up in a society that does not have TVs or computers in their homes, and he can't understand how video can exist from before the invention of camera phones. He literally can't comprehend this, no matter how many times I explained it. For example he saw a video on the computer at work of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach singing, who died in 1994, and he asked me what kind of phones they had back then that could take movies. I tried to explain about the existence of camcorders, bringing in my ancient (and no longer working) Sharp Slim Cam full-size VHS camcorder, but that didn't seem to help. Then I showed him this movie from 1905, and it blew his mind.

[Aragarthiel]

This happened in... '09? '10? To give an idea of how old I am.

[Monterey Jack]

I work with a tech who is almost exactly half my age. He grew up in a society that does not have TVs or computers in their homes, and he can't understand how video can exist from before the invention of camera phones.

What?! Did this guy honestly think that ALL FORMS OF VIDEO/FILM RECORDING did not exist before he was born? That's ridiculous.

[mhkohne]

I'm not even out of my 20s, thanks.

On the internet, no one knows that you are younger than my career.

[Shalom]

What?! Did this guy honestly think that ALL FORMS OF VIDEO/FILM RECORDING did not exist before he was born? That's ridiculous.

Yes, and yes.

And yet . . .

I'm not sure you comprehend quite how insular the Satmar Hasidic community is. We're talking about a man in his 20s who has never seen a television set, let alone watched one. He isn't aware that cinema is a thing. The only experience he's ever had with moving images is on the aforesaid camera phones. How's he supposed to know?

[mhkohne]

Yes, and yes.

And yet . . .

I'm not sure you comprehend quite how insular the Satmar Hasidic community is. We're talking about a man in his 20s who has never seen a television set, let alone watched one. He isn't aware that cinema is a thing. The only experience he's ever had with moving images is on the aforesaid camera phones. How's he supposed to know?

By thinking for half a minute and realizing that a camera phone is an awfully complex thing to have sprung fullynformed from the mind of man - there had to have been precursors.

[Monterey Jack]

You'd think that people who have never seen a movie would have at least HEARD of a movie at some point. That's like being amazed by STARS IN THE SKY.