On the bus

Subculturally correct. Comes from the Merry Pranksters: Ken Kesey said "you're either on the bus or off the bus", a "get with the program" hint to Sandy Lehmann-Haupt. At best, it refers to someone who Gets It, somehow passing the vague criteria to be a member of the tribe. Is it Hesse or Huxley this week? Am I weird enough? Secret handshake? More recently, with "hipness" a mass-marketed commodity, it applies to fringe sheeple who sneer at mainstream sheeple.

The full quotation is, "You're either on the bus, or off the bus." Purportedly said by Ken Kesey at a moment when one of the riders was threatening to leave Furthur during the cross country journey of the Merry Pranksters. This is documented in the book the Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe. My reading of this has less to do with whether you "get it" or not. It has more to do with, "If you're leaving do it and let us get on with the program. Make a choice."

"On The Bus" is also the title of a 1990 book that has an introduction by Ken Babbs published by Thunder's Mouth Press. The full title is "On The Bus: The Complete Guide to the Legendary Trip of Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters and the Birth of the Counterculture."

Source: http://www.ulster.net/~shady/keezintv.html Last Updated 06.20.02