until I was a teenager I believed that it was more expensive to sit upstairs on a doubledecker bus. This was so that my mother would not have to climb the stairs with her bags of shopping.

Debbie

When I was five, we had our first school trip. Our class was going to take a coach to London Zoo. I was absolutely thrilled ... not about the zoo, but about the coach ride. I could talk about nothing else and nobody could figure out why I wasn't more excited about the zoo.

When the coach finally arrived in the school car park I was distraught and through my sobs managed to explain to the teacher, "that's not a coach, it's a bus".

... the only coach I had ever heard of was the bejewelled horse drawn carriage that took Cinderella to the ball - and that was how I had been expecting to go to the zoo.

Alison Gray

My mate told me that when he was young he thought a double-decker bus had 2 drivers - one for the top deck and one for the bottom! The driver on the top had to be really good to keep the top deck directly above the bottom!

c bullen

I was 5 (1963) riding the little school bus through the streets of Chicago after school and I remember noticing how a little green arrow would flash on the dashboard prior to each turn. When I asked the driver about the arrow, she said it showed which direction the bus would turn. I suddenly felt panicked at the idea that my destination was ultimately controlled by the whims of this vehicle, and that I may not return home that afternoon, ending up God knows where. I kept my fear to myself, and was relieved to find myself deposited at the old brownstone building where I lived. Funny thing is, as soon as I got home, I forgot all about this close brush with technological capriciousness.

Anon

When I was a child a used to go downtown with my mom by bus, and I believed that the bus driver knew where we wanted to leave, he just guessed with some kind of magical power.

Rafael Galvao

When I'd see the ads for Greyhound on TV that said "Go Greyhound and leave the driving to us." I thought that meant that on other busses the passengers had to take turns driving.

Anon

I used to think that the bus I was on would tip over if I didnt go against the force of gravity. I never used to sit upstairs as I thought it was harder to balance myself when sitting up there.

Anon

I never saw a school bus that was not loaded with children, so I assumed that there were children who were doomed to ride the school bus forever. We had katydids in our school playground so somehow I figured out that the kadydids would sting students in the heart and they had to ride to school bus forever.

CM

As a child (from the U.S.) I went on a trip to Europe with my family. While in Italy, I was disappointed that I never got to ride on one of the the tiny buses that I was expecting them to have there. Later I figured out how I got misled. I had heard someone say that Italian Greyhounds were much smaller than familiar Greyhounds. But what I figured out only later was that they were talking about dog breeds, not buses!

Alison

Until was at least 10, I thought that when you dropped your fare into the box on public buses, the bus somehow converted the coins directly to fuel

Dana

I saw a charter bus with green-tinted windows go by. I assumed that all the people in the bus were sick and were being transported to a hospital. I distinctly remember feeling sorry for a girl about my age on the bus who was blowing a huge bubble, thinking she was going to die.

jamby

I used to believe that there was some cruel force in the universe that knew which bus you wanted to get and prevent that bus from ever appearing. (Most buses in Seoul, Korea don't run on schedule but appear every 5 minutes or so.) I would sometimes try to make myself believe that I really wanted a 588-1 when always needed that 135 to get back home quickly. Or better yet, wish for a taxi. Then 15 minutes later, I'd give up and walk home. I believed this all the way through 6th grade or so.

Berm

When I was about five or so, I used to think a bus driver was the best job in the world. I thought that they got to keep their bus, and could take it wherever they pleased, whenever they pleased. I was set on becoming a bus driver when I grew up, until I learned the horrible truth.

Sarah P.

when we went on school trips, we used to think that the bus might fall apart when it went over railroad tracks (or get hit by a train, i suppose) so everyone had to put their fingers on any screws or nails or whatever that they could see (that held the bus together) so they wouldn't fall out. i thought it was dumb, so i rarely did it (except when threatened by the bigger, meaner kids).

karen

When I was about ten years old I thought that the statement on our local buses "Spitting is prohibited" "Offenders will be prosecuted" meant that if you spat on the bus you would have your head chopped off. I very rarely opened my mouth when riding on a bus, for several years.

elaine

When I was young I got onto a bus with my sister and asked the driver for a one whole fare. The driver took some time explaining to me that I actually wanted two half fares, but for some reason I could not understand why two half fares did not make one whole fare.

Anon

I used to believe that bus drivers always gave you chocolate when you bought your ticket.My mum always had chocs in her bag when we went into town, i suppose to bribe me to behave.So whenever we got on the bus and i sat down promptly in my seat,i got a sweet, which i assumed the driver gave her.I WAS VERY UPSET the first time i was old enough to get the bus alone and did not get my sweet!!

clare

I used to believe that bus drivers would actually pull your arm off if you put it out of the window when the car was in motion because of something that my mother said. I couldn't really trust bus drivers 'til I was about 16

James, England

We weren't allowed to sit on the top deck of buses when we were little - my mum said that was where people went to change their clothes and they didn't want kids watching them. I was always confused when I looked up at the windows from the outside and everyone just looked as though they were sitting down normally and fully clothed!

Rachel

Whenever I'd ride on a bus as a kid, and the bus driver would stop and open the door near railroad tracks (to listen for oncoming trains), I always thought that s/he was opening the door to let any homeless people near the tracks onto the bus.
Not that I'd ever *seen* homeless people near the train tracks. I'd only heard about them in stories. But that's why I imagined the bus driver was stopped.

christy