Light Thoughts

     One of the key ingredients of being able to handle a school bus cover driver position is flexibility. Many times I show up for work and have no idea what I will be doing that morning or afternoon. Such was the case when I reported for work one morning and found out that I would be doing a route that needed to leave in about 5 minutes.  Since that meant there would not be time to do a pre-trip inspection on the bus, I would need to use a different bus that was ready to go.  With keys and route book in hand, I hurried off to the far side of the lot where we keep our spare busses.        Arriving at the bus I climbed on board completely oblivious of the safety cone that was a few feet behind the bus protecting a drain grate that was cracked.  Once inside, I started the engine, checked the mirrors and off I went to heroically get students to their respective schools.  I got to my first stop close to on time and took them up to t...

     Last summer we planted a zucchini plant in our backyard garden. I love zucchini bread.  I knew  that zucchini plants grow really fast, and they are usually easy to grow. And our plant did do well and was growing quite nicely. One summer day I looked out at the garden in the heat of the day and there was our zucchini plant all wilted and lifeless. It is almost like I could hear it say, "Help me, I am dying." By evening it had bounced back.  I continued to water it and by summer's end it had produced some nice zucchini. But I still remember how sad and desperate it looked in the heat of the day.      In my time as a letter carrier for the United States Postal Service, I also had days when I looked and felt like that little zucchini plant. I know firsthand how nice it is to open a mailbox and discover that someone has left some ice water or a cold drink for me. People who did things like that quickly became some of my favorite customers....

     I walked out to my school bus with just enough time to do a pre-trip (a check of the vehicle to make sure everything is working correctly) before heading out to pick up my first student. When I got to the part where I check the tires, I grabbed my thumper and started hitting the tires. Hitting them with a rod or wooden stick is the best way to make sure they are not flat especially on dual tires where one could hold the other up enough so it does not look flat. What you want is for the thumper to bounce off the tire. That day my thumper did not bounce, it went thud. Not once, but twice.      Turns out I actually had three flat tires! Had this been my personal car,  I would have had quite a problem. But working for the school district gave me a distinct advantage. All of us work together as a team to accomplish our mission of getting children safely to school. So I got on the radio and told our dispatcher my plight. She said okay, come in to the...

     It happens every year at the start of school. New bus drivers have so much to learn and being responsible for 40 to 60 kids can seem overwhelming. Without fail, you will hear someone who is new come on the two way radio that connects all the drivers with the dispatch office. "Kids sit down" "Quiet down Please" (not always said that nicely.) Then one of the other drivers comes on the radio and says, "Wrong Mike!"      Now here is the rest of the story. Every school bus has two radios:  A two way radio that connects us to the dispatch office and to the other drivers. Also, a bus speaker that is run through the AM FM radio. This radio has a toggle switch so we can speak to the kids inside the bus or outside the bus.            Personal confession: More than once, I have found myself driving down the road with the radio playing on the outside speaker. Oops!  I have also tried to tell the kids standing outside the ...