The Bandwagon

You've (most likely) heard the phrase, "jump on the bandwagon" (or whatever it actually is; I happen to not remember exactly). But, in band, we give this a new meaning.

Now, in the summer, when us marching band kids are the only ones in the school district that happen to need buses, the school buses are the default transport for us. We ride them to parades. I'm not exactly sure when I realized that we could start calling these "bandwagons"; but if you think about it this is very logical! Buses can be classified as wagons. It's a stretch, but it works. And the bus-wagon-thingies are carrying...a band! So they're bandwagons! I told all of my friends this, but I'm not sure how they feel about it. I personally think it's pure brilliance. 

But the bandwagons have problems. Keep in mind that we must haul around our uniforms- quite cumbersome- and instruments whenever we go to parades and things, and these can get in the way. Plus, nearly all of us insist on having our phones and a pair of sunglasses on the bandwagon. So things get quite crowded. First off, we are unevenly distributed on our 2 school buses/wagons. The high woodwinds (flutes/clarinets) and drum line go on one bus, and the brass and saxophones go on the other. Since both the drum line and high woodwind sections are quite small, their bus isn't even full. And then the brass bus is close to full, although I usually manage to get a seat to myself. Also is the problem of storing and keeping track of everything- uniforms, instruments, and phones. Instruments are easy because we put them in the undercarriage compartments. Then the only hard part is finding where they've slid around to when you get to the parade. Uniforms and hats are harder. 

A semi-good solution to uniform storage on the bus. Drawn by me.

Right now, we roll down the bus windows and hang our uniform garment bags on that, then put our hat boxes either on the seats or on the floor, but this causes problems as to keeping track of your own uniform pieces. One of 2 things can happen and cause uniform mix-ups:

a. Your hat box slides all over the bus floor and ends up in the very back, or...

b. After you take your uniform out of the bag, you forget to zip it up, it falls on the floor, and you have to hunt for your hangars when you get back from the parade because they slid all over the bus.

These things are not fun. Also when you hang your garment bag from the window, it covers the whole thing so you can't see out. Especially on longer drives, this bothers me. 

There's hardly a problem with phones on the bus. I just hope that no one calls me while we're driving because my phone's ringer has only 2 volumes: loud and louder. Everyone would hear, and then ask about, my outdated flip phone. But that's not the main point. The main point is that our school buses are not quite up to par with the "requirements" (aka luxuries) of a bunch of teenagers obsessed with band. So last night, I designed... The Bandwagon!!! It's a private motor coach designed specifically for marching bands; and it has all the creature comforts a band could want/use! (I made a list over the summer.) I'd been wanting to do it all summer, but I ran out of time- I wonder why- and now I have it done! Yay. Here are my blueprints for it: (I apologize for the lack of readability, but you get the main idea.)

Pic and drawings by me.

As you can (hopefully) see, the front half is more for just-a-short-drive kinds of trips, and the back half is akin to a tour bus. And it has spots for uniforms, hat boxes and instruments so that nothing gets mixed up! Anyway, this is my exaggerated luxury marching band tour coach. I'm good with the school buses for now. And I'll still call them bandwagons. But someday I hope to see something like this. That may or may not actually happen. But I'm hopeful. 

The end. For today.