Launching lunch boxes in the bus line

We had about 5 or 6 kids from our street that would take the bus every morning. We called the bus driver 'Hot Rod Hernandez' because she treated speed limits like the mere suggestions they were, and hit the frost heaves on the back roads at full tilt. Every day was a thrill ride.

We all had the metal lunch boxes with the TV Shows painted across the stamped metal and the Thermos inside that took up too much space for a item that did not keep hot things hot or cold things cold and always smelt like ass by October. The only advancement they made with those lunch boxes was the buckle went from a metal clasp to a plastic latch that caught the lip of the lid. I remember I had Space 1999 and The Dukes of Hazzard. I am sure I had more, but those are the two I remember.

For some stupid reason we'd tee up the lunch boxes atop the storm drain at our stop and kick the ever-loving shit out of them, testing the limits of just how far a lunch box could fly. Bologna sandwiches, chips, and that stupid thermos would fly in all directions.

Here is our stop in 1977. That is me in my Toughskins denim tuxedo. The sleeves are rolled back because Mom always bought a few sizes too big. If you look closely you can see the lunch boxes lined up neatly behind us. Not sure if we'd started booting them when this photo was taken.