Thursday, September 20, 2007

Adventures in Bus Driving - Take 2

J had to substitute drive again this afternoon. He got on the bus and there were two high school kids. One is in the regular classes, the other one is a little slower. J asked if anyone knew where he needed to go, the high school girl said that she did, but she was the third stop. After she got off the bus the other high school kid tried to help, but all he could say was turn that way. He didn't know his left from his right. When he got off the bus J asked if there was anyone over the age of 10 on the bus, no one raised their hand. He asked the oldest kid to come up to the front. When he got there J asked him how old he was, he was 9 (but J said he had the BO of a 40 year old). J had to rely on a 9 year old to get him around. He started telling J, you turn this way then you turn that way then you turn this way again. J called me to let me listen to the directions that he was getting. I heard the boy say something about turning by the black mailbox. When he got off the bus, J then had to rely on a 7 year old to finish the route. The kid couldn't tell him where he lived, just that he needed to go "that way". The 7 year old directed J from one side of the district to the other. One thing to remember is that our district is the 2nd largest district in the state. It stretches across the entire northern half of the county. The 7 year old told him he needed to turn at the patch of grass in the road, which actually was a Y, with grass growing in the center. Once he finally got the kids dropped off and was almost back the school, he turned the corner and C fell out of the seat head over heels. J said he got up rubbing his head. At least it was our kid and not someone elses. Doesn't this give you that have kids riding a bus a comforting feeling knowing that their bus driver may not have any idea how to get them home? The next time you're behind a bus that seems to be going too slow, don't get too mad at them. It may be that a 7 year old is the one directing it.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I was rolling out of my chair reading this! I think J needs to invest in a GPS, and the school district should make every kid wear a tag with their address on it. . .