Public Service Announcement for Parents and a General Update!

First off - I want to apologize to anyone still reading this blog for my lack of blogging. I started a new chapter in my life - namely going to school for Accounting, and the time has just not been there to enjoy a past time of blogging. Speaking of Accounting, I pulled a 4.0 GPA for Fall 2012 semester and made the president's list for my achievement. I'm proud of myself. By the end of this semester, I will be in possession of a certificate qualifying me as an "Office Accounting Specialist", which basically means I will have mastered the skills necessary to do basic office accounting procedures. Now, to just get a job in the field!

In other news, I quit transit in November due to some irreconcilable differences between myself and the schedule lady. One day, I will post about what sent me over the edge and caused me to quit. The good news now is that I have plenty of time to focus on college and pursuing a career that will be much better.

Now - on to the main reason for this post. This is a subject that all parents need to read and understand.

1. Your child's regular bus driver will eventually need a day off now and again. Chances are good they got sick and the absence is unplanned. So, usually, buses will have substitutes on them.

2. Please be patient with a substitute. They don't know your child personally like the regular bus driver does.

3. If your regular stop time is X. Please be AT the stop ready and waiting to go. The substitute will try to run the route on the same schedule as the regular bus driver.

4. If you see a bus that is a different number from the normal bus, but you see the bus picking up at OTHER stops that are along the route or near your house, chances are good, the bus route has a substitute who is driving a spare bus. Additionally, there may be a mechanical problem with the original bus, and often a regular bus driver will have to drive a spare. It happens.

5. If your children get on at two separate times, please make sure both are at their regularly scheduled stops. Don't tell me that I picked up your older child on the first run, but that your younger child did not get picked up especially since I come by your house TWICE. Your older child was AT the stop, your YOUNGER child WAS NOT.

6. Calling in on me and lying about the reason your child missed the bus is not an excuse. If you saw me coming and were AT the stop like you claimed you were, clearly I would have seen you and made a concerted effort to press the brake pedal.

7. Telling me how the regular driver does it does not help me. I am not the regular driver. I depend on other children to tell me where to go, and often (as was the case this morning) I only have a route description with ROADS only, no stops on it, so I am forced to look for children who should be AT their stops. (Sense a theme here?)

8. BE AT THE STOP - Not coming out of the house, not waiting at the doorway for the bus to roll by, not expecting the bus driver to beep the horn. Every other child can make an effort to be at the stop, yours should too.

9. Getting upset at me because I did not stop directly at your driveway but only 10 feet from it, is NOT a big deal. Deal with it, I'm not perfect. I'm human.

10. Have a nice day :)

The Bus Driver