The Wheels on the Bus...............

[85 Day Jerk]

Hello everyone, I have just finished phase two of Hell Week.  I am a new school bus driver for South Pinellas County.  Training has been very intense, and has taken alot out of me.  I was having to get up at 4:30 a.m. every morning so I have'nt had time to post until now.  Working among school aged children has really put me into the world of the here and now.  I look up into the mirror as I am driving and I see the faces of kids just like I was back in '76 or so and even though they may get loud and get on my nerves, not one of them deserves to have done to them what was done to me starting the summer of '78.



Everything  else around here has pretty much gone to the dogs.  Right now I sense a calm before the onslaught of a great storm.  It will only take a small nudge to get a whole new drug culture thing going again.  So far, most of my kids seem pretty much on the straight and narrow.  My first run is for a school that houses grades 1 thru 12 and is for really messed up kids with emotional and developmental problems. (They could not have picked a more suitable driver huh?)  Next is an elementary school very close to Tyrone and the old Morgan Yacht building where I bring in a large load of South St. Pete black children.  These children are mostly poor, yet all are well fed, their clothes are clean, and their behavior and manners are immaculate.  For my last run, I bring in a load of mostly white, hip-hop Jerry Springer raised middle school students.  On my bus, the girls rule the roost.  They are giant hormone fueled Amazon Warriors and the guys fall back and just let it ride.  By the grace of God, I worked with two sisters a few years ago in the YMCA that are now on my bus, and it is alot more smoother because of that.  These are all good kids

in their own right, and the only way drugs will screw these kids up, is if they are pushed on them and pushed hard.  Much like that Dr. Sam Beckett in the series Quantam Leap, I have lept from job to job over the years.  I think I am where God wants me for now, so we'll just have to see where it goes from here.

_________________
In the line of fire, you know what to say
They gave us no choices, just one shade of grey
Back at that hellhole, behind Tyrone Mall
We walked in darkness, kept hitting the walls
I took the time to feel for the door
I had been treated, but what the hell for?

[ This Message was edited by: 85 Day Jerk on 2003-01-17 21:32 ]

[hedwigfan]

Those kids are lucky to have you for their bus driver. Your post got me thinking about my bus driver from 1970-1974--the dreaded Mrs. Day. She had a black beehive hairdo, wrapped in a chiffon scarf, and a severe face with deep red lipstick. She looked like a witch. This was in a small town in Kansas. If you ever tried to walk home without a note from your parents, she'd hunt you down and make you get on the bus. There was a little retarded kid named Darrell who used to sit right behind her and poop in his pants. She had her hands full. In a way, now I think she was a pretty good bus driver. I doubt there are too many drivers concerned enough with their kids to hunt them down if they aren't on the bus!

[Tampa survivor]

Bob...Glad to hear that the new gig is working well.  Once again you gave me my first good laugh of the day with your fantastic self deprecating remark about the driver being PERFECt for driving the "short bus" kids.  OHMIGOD, my coffee burbled through my nose on that one.

Finding a job that makes me happy enticed me away from law school, to electrician, to sales rep to nurse.  I think the most important thing is to LOVE what you do....I bet your kids will know it too!!

On Kris comments...

Mr Beatty...Williamsburg Va, circa 1973....he just returned from 'Nam, had LONG freaky curly hair, was certainly on drugs and suffering from PTSD.  We loved him.  you could hear him comming a mile away because back then buses were standard shift with Big block chevy V-8s.  He had little if any muffler, and would float the valves on that thing doing probably 7000 RPM before shifting, then a Tremendous backfire would happen on each shift as the ignition, valves and fuel all got outta synch.  We laughed with absolute abandon, loved when he yelled "A'tenHUT" like a psyco drill seargent to immediatly settle us down until somebody giggled and he would laugh and try to send the pistons on that old bus through the hood again.

Lucky guy...married the fine music teacher all us 5th graders had crushes on too.

Bill



[ This Message was edited by: tampa survivor on 2003-01-18 05:09 ]

[Shelby]

Hey Bob! I'm happy the new job is going well. I've thought about driving a school bus, but don't think I could handle it. The kids, that is - not the bus!! The simple fact that the buses up here come equipped with a "body fluid clean-up kit" was enough to scare me away. Bet you're gonna have some great stories to tell.  ::bwahaha:: Keep us filled in, okay?

Shelby

[Anonymous]

SAFETY net does not organize protests.  That is not one of it's functions.  You may be confusing that with another group.

[kpickle39]

SAFETY Net does NOT organize nor participates in protests.  I agree w/the previous poster.  I should know, I'm on the Board of Directors.  Protests ain't in our mission statement.

Necessity is the excuse for every infringement of human freedom.  It is the argument of the tyrant and the creed of the slave.  
-- William Pitt, 1763

[Tampa survivor]

Hey Bob, do they still try the potato in the tailpipe of the bus trick?  
We had a family of hellraisers in our neighborhood who figured out that a properly shaped spud would shoot about 100 yards if jammed in the tail of the bus after we got off.
Hmm, maybe todays kid's have more creative tricks??
Do tell.
Really glad for you.
Bill

[hedwigfan]

This is gross...there was this mean kid named Ed on our bus who used to hock (sp?) these big loogies on the ceiling over other kids' heads. I think he was in cahoots with the fat girl bully who used to play her drumsticks on your head if you were unfortunate enough to sit in front of her...yep, it happened to me!