I get car sick. Pukey Vickie. I’m surprised that nickname didn’t stick. When I was little I got sick on the school bus almost every day. When I did throw up, my best friend, Ramaine, would yell out loud for everyone to raise their feet (especially if we were ready to travel up a hill). Sometimes I would run up to the front and throw up on the stairs. I guess I thought it would be confined and easier for the bus driver to clean up. Except for the fact that each child would be taking home a piece of me each day. That’s why people should take their shoes off in their homes. Anywho, I know the bus driver hated me. A couple years later he ran over my Chihuahua, Smokey. I am sure he did it for revenge. Poor Smokey.
My parents kept a bucket and a towel in the back seat for me. And kept the air conditioning running, even in the winter. On top of that, I rode with my hand out the window. That really helped. Anyone who says this doesn’t work is wrong. And no longer my friend. Needless to say, weekend jaunts down the Blue Ridge Parkway were quite fun. That road had many hairpin turns. I know that I would think twice about going on back roads if I had a child that was pukey. I guess if you live in West Virginia, you aren’t going to have straight roads. My brother and sister pleaded with my parents to turn off the air conditioner. Next trip they had a blanket. Now that I think about it, they were always sick. I didn’t care. What was important was my well-being.
When I was in fourth grade, my mom handed me a little green car sick pill. I took it every day for a long time. Didn’t really seem to work. I did quit vomiting when I started sitting in the front of the bus and started watching the road. The bus driver (new guy) would have the window opened up a tiny bit, so I sat there, looking straight ahead, with my little bony arm stretched up so my hand could greet the air. I was in business. I didn’t find out until I was in my 30’s that the little green pill was a mild tranquilizer. The hell you say! Mom said it was given to me because I couldn’t concentrate on anything and I was diagnosed with hyperactivity. I’m thinking she diagnosed me. Then she added, “That’s why I taught you how to play chess when you were in second grade. You needed to learn to concentrate.” Meanwhile, I’m concentrating how to murder her and get away with it. I mean, seriously, a mild tranquilizer? Ok, yeah, I was nicknamed Cricket when I was little because I hopped all over the place. I was like a little Mexican jumping bean. But, I am sure I was endearing. To stifle that energetic creativity with a tranquilizer is just so wrong.
Nowadays, as a teacher, I can’t go on field trips unless I take Dramamine, sit in the front and stare ahead. People think that if you get car sick, once you are stopped and out of the car, you are ok. That’s not true. I’m sick for hours. So, I try to take the day off on field trip days. Yeah, my kids want me to go, because I am incredibly fun. But, seeing me with my hand out the window diminishes great teacher status.
Jumping in Mud Puddles 