While many kids are lucky enough to have parents drive them to school or even live close enough to school that they could safely walk there, many of us rode the school bus to and from school.

That big yellow bus made the ride home from school take much longer than it would’ve if our parents had picked us up, but riding the bus was part of the school day experience. We got to talk to our friends, play games and even help each other with our homework on the way home.

Reddit user geoload asked the community, “Redditors who rode the bus to and from school, what was your most memorable moment on the school bus?”

Some of the answers are sweet; some of them are funny. Read on for 13 very memorable school bus moments.

1. 2 Very Memorable Stories

   Written by Reddit user DocValkyrie:

   I have two stories. In middle school my bus once caught on fire a block away from the school. It was a tiny one but enough to call the firefighters. We all piled off and watched them do their thing. They brought a second bus… which also caught on fire. Eventually we were brought a third bus 30 mins later. This was all during the winter and we weren’t allowed to walk back to the school because of “safety reasons”. Never understood why it was more safe to have kids standing outside in winter next to a bus on fire than to walk them a block back to the school.The other time I was in 1st grade. My bus driver was a crazy nice guy. He knew us all. One day my aunt who always picked me up wasn’t there at the stop. He said that I could stay on the bus and we would drive back after the route. Maybe she was just late. We drive back and she still wasn’t there. So he asked me which house was mine. He drove us there and parked his bus. We rang the bell a bunch and threw small rocks at her window. Nothing. Her car was there though so it was very weird. My friend’s mom drove by and saw us. She offered to take me to her house so I could call my parents and stay there for a while even though it was her birthday. Bus driver left and said don’t worry, she’s probably just asleep. Turns out she was eternally asleep and had a brain aneurysm earlier in the day. I’ll never forget that day or that nice driver though who wanted to make sure I was safe before he left. He even made sure to look out for me for the rest of the year. Great guy.

2. The Bus Hit a Car

   Former student nirishman15 wrote:

   One time our bus hit a car in a roundabout. Guy we hit was completely at fault. He must have not understood the turning radius of a bus or something. We were close to school and our bus driver was like, “well, I gotta deal with this.” So we got off the bus and walked to school.

3. Police on the Bus

   Written by Reddit user angel-acid:

   2 cops dressed in SWAT gear riding the bus with us. A man had shot and killed 4 people in our neighborhood. The scene apparently wasn’t “secure” yet or something, so they cops had to ride with us while the driver dropped us off.

4. Speed Bumps

   Trevino23 shared an experience that might be fun but certainly not safe:

   I had a bus driver who would purposely speed up when going over speed bumps so the kids could “catch air”. He got fired eventually for running into some garbage cans.

5. A Gun

   A somewhat unnerving moment shared by sp0rkah0lic:

   Freshman year, a girl I was sitting next to opened her backpack and I saw a gun in it. She saw me see it, and just gave me a hard glare and shook her head. I planted my eyes on the back of the seat in front of us, and didn’t even look at her the rest of the ride.I went to kind of a rough school.

6. A Dog on the Bus

   SHEDY0URS0UL shared:

   Once while picking up a kid, a dog got on the bus and everyone went nuts and started petting it. The driver eventually shooed it away.

7. At a New School

   Written by RobotIceCreamSammich:

   When I was in 6th grade I moved from a really small town where I could walk to school everyday, to a much larger one where I had to ride the bus. I was having trouble finding my way around the school the first week, and ended up running very very late to catch the bus at the end of the day. I was already beating myself up about the fact that I was going to have to call one my parents who would have to leave work early to pick me up, but when I got outside the bus was pulled right up to the doors waiting for me. The bus driver knew I had been on the bus that morning and verified with my brother that I was supposed to get on the bus to go home, so he waited. I know it seems really insignificant but, with all the stress and anxiety I was feeling trying to settle into a new house, new city, and a new school it made a lasting impression on me. Thank you Ron.

8. A Big Crush

   bellaboozle shared:

   I had a really big crush on this guy. I was staring longingly at him through the mirror above the bus driver. Like dead on creeper staring. Then, he pointed or motioned towards me or something and I suddenly realized, “he can see me staring at him?! – OMG!” and felt like the stupidest person on Earth. I was like a damn cat thinking I can see him in the mirror but he can’t see me drooling at him.

9. A Great Bus Driver

   Reddit user yepyepyepyeppp wrote:

   My siblings and I went to a small private school that was about a half an hour from home. We were the only kids on the bus that went to that school, the rest got dropped off at a public school first, and we were the last off at night. Needless to say we spent more time with the driver, Tom, then the other kids did. He favored us. After all the other kids got off, he’d let us move around the bus, sweep the floor, or pick the radio station. At Christmas time he would share his treats that the other kids gave him as gifts. He was awesome. I’ll always remember Tom the bus driver.

10. The Windows Were Cracked Open

    Reddit user Stalked_Like_Corn added a memory:

    Not sure why this stuck with me but this was during the cooler months that you would just crack the windows a bit to get fresh air. We would play “football” (triangle paper kind) by “kicking” it back and forth. I kicked it one time and it went out the window. The window only open far enough that it could barely slide through on the side.It flew BACK into the bus 7 windows down, also through a window that was barely open enough to have it fit through. Hit a guy in the face. Was extremely bizarre.

11. Star Wars Fans

    Written by probability_of_meme:

    This is almost 30 years ago. My buddy and me were VERY big Star Wars fans and this was our first year taking the bus. We would sit behind the driver every day and whenever his little stop sign activated, a small red light on his dashboard would flash. Every time this happened one of us would reach past him, pointing and yell “What’s that flashing?!” reliving the scene from episode IV in the Millenium Falcon.We did this every day for months. Driver never asked why or asked us to stop.

12. Over an Hour Late

    Shared by thevitalone:

    The bus driver when I was in early grade school was named Ross. My neighborhood was the first stop in the mornings, so we were always the first people on the bus. One day, he picked us up and somehow forgot about all the other stops (there were 10-15 total). He gets like a block away from the school when he realizes there’s only like 8 kids on the bus. He turns around and goes back through every stop, but all the other kids have already gotten rides with their parents because we were over 30 minutes behind schedule by this point. Ended up being almost an hour late to school.As a kid, it was hilarious. As an adult, I think Ross did drugs.

13. Guitar

    Former student treekiddo wrote:

    The middle schoolers would always ride the bus at the same time as the high schoolers did in the mornings… Second day of eighth grade and two high schoolers in the back had brought their guitars on the bus with them and played the entire way.