If you have ever ridden a school bus then you know that it sucks. If you are shocked to hear this, you are probably more popular than I am, which is okay; I don't care about status. I hate that other people do, though.

I sit in the middle of the bus, sometimes in the front. Really, it's wherever my friend happens to save me a seat. Everything is dandy until it's her stop. And then I am left alone, maybe reading a book or staring out the window.

Inevitably, somebody in the back starts to misbehave, and the driver yells the warning “If you don't stop, you'll have to sit in the front!” Quickly, the ruckus subsides, as if the threat of sitting in the front is terrifying. Yet I am sitting there willingly, still alone.

And then what I dread most happens. Somebody in the back is tickled or hit, and the driver stops the bus. He points at the rowdy student. “You! Come to the front! Sit right here until your stop.” He points at the empty seat next to me.

Everybody mocks him and says “Ooooh,” some laughing at his bad fortune. I take a breath and prepare for the worst, at the same time hoping for better. He heaves his backpack in the seat and sits down next to me, looking straight ahead.

“Hi,” I say. He scowls and scoots to the edge of the seat, talking to his friends down the aisle. I sit alone, rejected.

So, if you are a bus driver and happen to come across this article, you now know what a punishment should not be. If you are a troublemaker and are forced to sit next to someone you don't know on the bus, remember this article and try having a conversation with that person. If you are a student, like me, who sits in the front, at least you know you are not alone.