|
This page is to pay tribute to those hard working bus drivers everywhere. I left bus driving because I wanted to pursue a career in business but my heart is still on those big, yellow machines. I still drool at the sight of a school bus and nothing beats that new school bus smell. You know what they say - you can take the boy out of the school bus but you cannot take the school bus out of the boy! Below is one of my favorite tributes to bus drivers...
JUST DRIVERS
The label "just drivers" is given to us
by people who've probably never even driven a bus.
Just let them try to fill our shoes
And do it without singing the blues.
Do they know what it's all about,
To have to watch the road, and the mirrors, while forty or more kids shout?
Could they catch the spit ball thrower, or the hitter
While still remembering who goes to what sitter?
Is this the night Mary goes to the McArthys, or the Philbricks?
Oh, oh keep and eye on Tommy; he's up to his old tricks.
Darn, he just reached around and punched Eddie Stout.
Watch out, that car looks like it's coming out!
"Sit down, you know when the bus is moving you don't stand up"
"I said sit down or I'll write you up."
"Eddie and Bill stop swinging your backpacks."
God where's the plow? Guess I'll have to make my own tracks.
Jeepers lady didn't you see my lights flashing red?
Two seconds sooner and that kid would be dead.
"Don't cry, Honey, we'll get to school before you get worse,
And I'll radio for them to send out the nurse."
"Here use this bag if you're going to get sick."
"A couple more stops and we'll be there real quick."
"Don't worry about the mess, Honey, I'll take care or it."
"Just go inside to the nurses' office and sit."
"Just drivers," that would be fantastic.
Concentrate on nothing but the road, never mind that kid's sick.
Let them kick and punch each other out.
Let them scream and shout.
If we only watch the road and bus gauges,
How soon would all the parents be in rages?
So, please don't casually label us
Until you're willing and able to drive our bus.
Author: Janet Purnell
Driver for 29 years.
|
|
|
School Bus Driver Poems...
"School Bus Driver's Prayer"
Please, Lord, watch me this day. Please help
me remember to watch all five mirrors, two dozen
windows, eight gauges, six warning lights, six dozen
faces, three lanes of traffic and to keep a third eye
open for wobbling bicycles and daydreaming
pedestrians, especially teen-agers wearing headsets
who are in another world.
Please Lord, help me hear all train whistles, truck
and automobile horns, police sirens and the
two-way radio. Please also let me hear when one of
my students calls for me, and just needs a listening ear.
Please Lord, give me a hand for the gear lever,
the steering wheel, the route book, the radio
microphone and the turn-signal lever, while being able
to hand out kleenexes, pencils, or other things
the kids may need.
And Lord, please grant me the self-control to keep my hands away from Johnny's neck when he's pinching and biting Billy, while trying to keep everybody in their seat,
and reminding them that sticking their head outside
the window is not safe. And one more thing, dear Lord,
please don't let Mary be sick all over the bus.
And finally Lord, please watch over us all so that
we can do it again next year.
AMEN
"Bus Driving Woes"
Have you ever tried driving a school bus
With umpteen kids all creating a fuss?
It sure is exciting and at times very trying
To have to put up with the yelling and crying.
So start your bus after checking it out
And say a prayer as you start your route.
You stop at the school to pick up your load
Then it's off you go and down the road.
You've gone less than a mile a noise you hear,
Keep one eye on the road and one on the mirror.
Of course you know the noise, you've heard it before,
Joey tried to open the emergency door!
Keep your eyes on the road as there's bicyclists ahead,
Then, squish, you get an orange on the back of your head. Look up quick to try to catch the jerk, Fifty kids all smiling a silly little smirk.
Then somewhere in back two kids start a fight,
And others start screaming with all their might.
Quick stop the bus if you can find a place,
Before someone ends up with a bloody face.
Kids block the aisle, they don't want it stopped,
At least until someone really gets popped.
You pull them apart and ask who started this mess,
The other one did, they both confess.
Back on the road everything's quieted down,
Till big ole Albert starts acting like a clown.
Flipping over a seat he creates a flap,
As he lands in shy little Mary's lap.
She screams so loud you can't help but look,
Just in time to see him get whopped with her book.
Back in his seat with no serious harm done,
Today those kids are really having fun.
As they start getting off, one by one,
You wonder if this day will ever get done.
You could call parents but what good would it do,
Their children are all angels, through and through.
There's a car pulling out, quick hit the brake!
He saw you coming, it was no mistake,
That yo-yo didn't want to get behind the bus,
Let's hope the kids didn't hear you cuss.
Five more kids and the day will be through,
then you can go home to a well-deserved hrew.
You stop the bus with the flashers going,
And some nut goes past without even slowing!
You finally come to the last, and open the door,
He stops by you as you warily wonder what for.
Then says you're the best driver he's ever had.
Maybe, just maybe, these kids are not all that bad...
By a Bus-driving poet - Marv Reaurne, Jefferson School Bus Driver.
|
|
For Those Who Do Not Know Just What Exactly A School Bus Driver Is, Here Is The Answer...
A school bus driver is a person who smiles in the morning, smiles in the evening and eats Rolaids in between.
A school bus driver has a good understanding of
human nature and Mother Nature.
A school bus driver has an up to date vocabulary.
A school bus driver gives reassuring nods to
anxious moms standing at the bus stops.
A school bus driver gets there when nobody else can, finds houses that don't exist and children with no names.
School bus drivers have eyes in the back of their heads, and hear every word, even in sign language.
School bus drivers are immune to noise.
A school bus drivers favorite words besides "goodmorning" and "goodnight")
are "sit down".
Sometimes a school bus driver gets tired,
but seldom gets mad, and always, most faithfully, gets there.
(author unknown)
|
|
