Last Thursday, we took the local elementary schools to a free rodeo put on by local rodeo enthusiasts who hold a rodeo every year. Last year, we went and the place was packed, but there was still plenty of seating for everyone. This year however, it seemed the crowd doubled and there was standing room only. People were parked every which way and it was near impossible to maneuver the 35+ buses that were assigned to transport students to and from the rodeo. Some of us even had to do double duty, myself included.
Because of this double duty and due to the location of the two schools I transported, the local sheriffs provided escorts to and from the rodeo, flashing lights and all. When we have police escorting us, it’s the only time we can LEGALLY go through stop signs and red lights. It freaked some of the teachers out that were riding with me when we came up on the first stop sign. It was also cool to be the last bus in line, radioing ahead for clearance (the police were listening to us), and seeing the cruisers come flying past us at 80+ mph to get to the next checkpoint to block traffic for us. All in all, a great use of police resources.
In other news, I get to go see Disney on Ice this year. I’ve heard its actually Nemo on Ice, so I get to see the little fishy skate. Again your tax dollars hard at work.
Next item of business, Screamer Boy. Screamer Boy is an obnoxious middle schooler who insists on making every bus drivers life a living hell. There are about a handful of kids on this same bus who are equally as obnoxious and when confronted about the deplorable behavior, these kids deny any involvement or any knowledge as to who it is that is being the most obnoxious. I drove the bus about 2 weeks ago and all of these kids (middle school AND high school) were extremely obnoxious and downright disrespectful. I even pulled over and demanded they stop the behavior at once and they got up in my face and demanded that I let them off and told me to basically go to hell in a nutshell. The kids even refused to get quiet at the railroad crossings which is required by LAW.
Screamer Boy insisted on screaming obnoxiously in short bursts the entire bus ride, getting on my nerves quite frankly, he almost caused me to have an accident SEVERAL times because of his screaming. If a kid screams, I’m trained to find the problem quickly as a kid may be in DANGER. This screaming was obnoxious and DELIBERATE. Screamer Boy got off at his stop (he was the only one at his stop) then turned and screamed at the bus deliberately in a motion as to say F-U B*tch. I made note of what he looked like and who it was.
I got sweet revenge last Thursday when again, I found myself driving the same bus. I pulled up at the middle school and Screamer Boy got on the bus. I told him flat out that he was going to sit in the front seat. He looked at me and said “You can’t make me sit in the front seat, and I’m not gonna sit in the front seat.” I think he said a few cuss words in my direction and was extremely disrespectful in tone. I called the principal over to the bus and explained the situation from two weeks ago. The principal called him to the front of the bus and requested that he follow my directions. He got very disrespectful and lippy with her and she told him that either he could follow my direction and sit in the front seat or find himself another ride home. He chose to get off the bus and find another ride home. Surprisingly with him off the bus, no one else acted out or was disrespectful. I believe the kid is probably the ringleader of this group and gets everyone started and then sits back and watches the bus driver go crazy. I suspect this because a fellow bus driver drove the route today and had the exact same problems as I did. The sad thing is, the route is all of 15-20 minutes once the kids are loaded from all the schools. They can’t seem to behave sometimes.
Zero Tolerance,
The Bus Driver
Showing posts with label AAAAAAHHHHHHH. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AAAAAAHHHHHHH. Show all posts
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Read Between The Lines
I have come to despise shopping. Yes, shopping. I avoid Wal-Mart like the plague. I have even come to hate stepping into my local grocery store. Why? Because of parents who cannot control their heathen spawns of the devil children. I can live with being recognized as a bus driver, but when your heathen spawn child is running up and down the aisles screaming mommy look it look it look it. Or mommy buy me buy me buy me. Or even granny I want I want I want. It is neither attractive nor appealing for me to listen to while I’m trying to do my shopping in peace.
For instance, today at the grocery store, I happened upon this mother and herdevil spawn wonderfully behaved approximately 5 year old child. It was in that dreaded Ice Cream Frozen Treats aisle where this child was incessantly naggingpolitely asking his mother for more freezer pops. His mother told him no less than 5 times once that there was no space in the freezer for more Popsicles, and that he would have to finish the ones they originally bought. Not only that, the child insisted on following ME up the aisle where when I turned around and discovered the heathen sweet little boy, he ran off in the opposite direction back to his mother, while I resisted the urge to run him over with my shopping cart smiled politely and went about my shopping. I encountered him again at the checkout where he was running wildly up and down the checkout lane standing patiently next to his mother while she got the groceries. I resisted the urge to drop loud hints that this mother should put her child on Ritalin smiled politely again and went and paid for my groceries.
Checking Out,
The Bus Driver
For instance, today at the grocery store, I happened upon this mother and her
Checking Out,
The Bus Driver
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Adventures in Parking
As a bus driver, I am expected to maneuver the bus into some pretty tight spaces. Often, I find myself in situations where parents seemingly block my access to an area where I need to be, or they tend to tailgate the bus, which then creates several traffic problems. While I don’t mind if parents follow the bus in order to get to a destination, I do wish that parents would tend to think a little bit ahead of the bus and be courteous if we have to turn around in tight spaces.
With that said, I took the local third grade classes to the Museum of Science and History in a nearby town. It was about a 2-hour drive, and quite pleasant up until the major construction on the road and massive traffic towards the city. I had been assigned this field trip in early October, so I had been looking forward to this field trip all year. We arrive at the museum without incident and I pull around a tight roundabout and pull into the museum driveway. The driveway leads into a small circle and is bordered by the museum on the right, a park at the head of the circle and a fairly large parking lot on the left. The intersection the museum sits on can be best described as a lowercase “t” with a circle at the top of the “t” and a circle where the two lines intersect.
Anyhow, I pull up and around the intersection and stop to unload children in front of the museum. Mind you, every OTHER bus had done this as well. Unfortunately, the parents following me had created a bottleneck situation in the intersection. My tail end was out of the intersection and NOT blocking traffic. They called Security to tell me to move. I simply told Security that I would move when we were done unloading the children. The teachers took their sweet time in unloading all the children off the bus all the while; I had parents sitting on my rear end.
At the top of the “t” there was the circle that lead into the park, I could have turned the bus around in there except that parents had parked all along the circle making it increasingly difficult to maneuver a very large vehicle around. I did the next best thing; I pulled INTO the parking lot in search for a space to park the beast. I was initially told that someone would tell me where to park, but alas, the kids unloaded, the teachers disappeared and I was stuck trying to find a solution. I noted all buses that were lined up along the street side of the parking lot and that there was no available space there. I noted one other bus that had parked IN the parking lot. So I assumed that it would be ok to park there. I pull into the parking lot and manage to take up only TWO spaces with this monster of a bus. I noted signs along the outer edge of the parking lot that stated clearly “Museum parking only.” I secured the bus and wandered into the museum.
I notify the front that I’m the bus driver with XYZ group and they wave me into the museum. I’m about halfway through an exhibit (my one and only exhibit of the day) when an employee finds me and tells me I’m needed at the front desk. I’m thinking, “Ok, they forgot to give me a ticket into see XYZ show or whatever.” So I call the front desk on my cell phone. The museum informs me that the parking lot across the small little circle is NOT owned by the museum and that I have to move my bus. The lady also informs me that the bus is about to receive a ticket for parking in the wrong place.
I run down to the front desk and inquire as to where I should park themonster bus. The lady tells me that the buses can be parked “underneath the bridge” down the street. Now, the distance from the museum to the bridge parking area is about the length of TWO Wal-Mart parking lots. There is a marina in between the original parking lot and the bridge parking lot. Confused yet? I was. THEN the museum informs me, “Oh, by the way, the parking lot owner called a tow truck.”
Holy Shit Batman!
Panic-stricken, Iran walked swiftly out the door praying that the bus was still in one piece and untouched. I could hear the conversation in my head.
Bus Driver: Hi Mr. Bossman Sir, we’re on a field trip in XYZ city and well, the bus is sort of at the impound lot and we’re stranded.
Bossman: What?!!?
Yeah, that would NOT go over well!
Luckily, the bus was still in the place I left it. There was no ticket stuck on the door or shoved on the windshield and there was no tow truck in sight. Feeling quite relieved, I maneuvered the bus around to the “appropriate” parking lot. As I entered the parking lot under the bridge, a large sign greeted me and informed me that the parking lot was a “Park ‘N Ride” parking lot and that only those with permits would be allowed to park there. Suffice to say, I didn’t bother leaving my bus for the rest of the day and sat in silence waiting for the children to enjoy their time at the Museum. I took that time to inform my boss of the situation so that there would be no surprises on Monday.
Thankfully Ticketless,
The Bus Driver
With that said, I took the local third grade classes to the Museum of Science and History in a nearby town. It was about a 2-hour drive, and quite pleasant up until the major construction on the road and massive traffic towards the city. I had been assigned this field trip in early October, so I had been looking forward to this field trip all year. We arrive at the museum without incident and I pull around a tight roundabout and pull into the museum driveway. The driveway leads into a small circle and is bordered by the museum on the right, a park at the head of the circle and a fairly large parking lot on the left. The intersection the museum sits on can be best described as a lowercase “t” with a circle at the top of the “t” and a circle where the two lines intersect.
Anyhow, I pull up and around the intersection and stop to unload children in front of the museum. Mind you, every OTHER bus had done this as well. Unfortunately, the parents following me had created a bottleneck situation in the intersection. My tail end was out of the intersection and NOT blocking traffic. They called Security to tell me to move. I simply told Security that I would move when we were done unloading the children. The teachers took their sweet time in unloading all the children off the bus all the while; I had parents sitting on my rear end.
At the top of the “t” there was the circle that lead into the park, I could have turned the bus around in there except that parents had parked all along the circle making it increasingly difficult to maneuver a very large vehicle around. I did the next best thing; I pulled INTO the parking lot in search for a space to park the beast. I was initially told that someone would tell me where to park, but alas, the kids unloaded, the teachers disappeared and I was stuck trying to find a solution. I noted all buses that were lined up along the street side of the parking lot and that there was no available space there. I noted one other bus that had parked IN the parking lot. So I assumed that it would be ok to park there. I pull into the parking lot and manage to take up only TWO spaces with this monster of a bus. I noted signs along the outer edge of the parking lot that stated clearly “Museum parking only.” I secured the bus and wandered into the museum.
I notify the front that I’m the bus driver with XYZ group and they wave me into the museum. I’m about halfway through an exhibit (my one and only exhibit of the day) when an employee finds me and tells me I’m needed at the front desk. I’m thinking, “Ok, they forgot to give me a ticket into see XYZ show or whatever.” So I call the front desk on my cell phone. The museum informs me that the parking lot across the small little circle is NOT owned by the museum and that I have to move my bus. The lady also informs me that the bus is about to receive a ticket for parking in the wrong place.
I run down to the front desk and inquire as to where I should park the
Holy Shit Batman!
Panic-stricken, I
Bus Driver: Hi Mr. Bossman Sir, we’re on a field trip in XYZ city and well, the bus is sort of at the impound lot and we’re stranded.
Bossman:
Yeah, that would NOT go over well!
Luckily, the bus was still in the place I left it. There was no ticket stuck on the door or shoved on the windshield and there was no tow truck in sight. Feeling quite relieved, I maneuvered the bus around to the “appropriate” parking lot. As I entered the parking lot under the bridge, a large sign greeted me and informed me that the parking lot was a “Park ‘N Ride” parking lot and that only those with permits would be allowed to park there. Suffice to say, I didn’t bother leaving my bus for the rest of the day and sat in silence waiting for the children to enjoy their time at the Museum. I took that time to inform my boss of the situation so that there would be no surprises on Monday.
Thankfully Ticketless,
The Bus Driver
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Is it Christmas Break yet?
Three more days left and my kids are pushing me to the limit on the bus. I’m sick and tired of the incessant questions. The answer to most of these questions is a typical flat “No” followed by “Be quiet and sit properly in the seats.” I understand that many of them are anxious for Christmas, heck, I am too but when idiots come out in droves during the holidays, driving becomes a chore and not a pleasure. Combine that with my high school kids acting like thugs and my middleschoolers driving me up a wall and you've got one exasperated bus driver.
I cannot have a back and forth conversation with 15+ children at once because of the idiot who cuts me off, the idiot that tailgates me and the idiots I work with who relentlessly tie up the CB Radio with useless banter, and stupid questions like “Bus Base to Bus D - Do you have Little Johnny on the bus? Bus F to Bus Base - What do I do with Little Amy who cussed me out? We’re still looking for Little Johnny. How do you spell that child’s name? A M Y…. What were the last 2 letters of her name? A M Y….. What I didn’t hear that, you were walked all over by … Little Johnny’s mom says the bus has/hasn’t gone by and Little Johnny has to get home as quickly as possible even though your only 1 road/1 stop/arriving at/or Johnny didn’t get on the bus to go HOME!!! Everybody check to see if Little Johnny got on your bus. School A to Bus Base and Bus D we found Little Johnny.”
If that sounded confusing, that’s what happens DAILY on the bus CB Radio. It’s incessant and annoying and continually blaring in my ear. Some days and weeks are better than others, but there is a time at least once a month where everyone seems to take their stupid pills all at once. I don’t dare mute it or turn it off because its likely the Bus Base will need to get a hold of me the second I do! The “clicks” are from inconsiderate bus drivers who click the radio while people are talking about important things because they have nothing better to do.
In other news, while I was out, I began to get reports of what happened while I was gone. A fellow bus driver’s 8-year-old son had one of my high school boys use a belt on him. Another bus driver ran into a telephone pole, and then claimed she couldn’t see it. To make matters worse, she didn’t report it to the proper authorities, and the only way the bus shop knew about it was because a parent told ME when I came back what had happened. I had noticed the stop sign leaning/crushed into the pole and had wondered what happened. That same bus driver cannot seem to follow directions and cannot handle a bus at all. Just today she reportedly let a busload of kids off along a busy highway/street with no regards to safety. Those kids were seen walking along the side of the road and were called in by a concerned motorist. She’s going to get a child killed if my boss doesn’t grow a pair and fire her for her irresponsible behavior.
I have kids on the bus this year who are expecting me to do something nice for Christmas (bags of candy and such) but my bus has had some very poor behavior that none of the kids deserve ANYTHING. Every time I’ve tried to implement some form of reward, they take advantage of it and it usually lands me more frustrated than when I started. So many kids on my bus have come to expect that the bus driver will be nice and hand out candy canes or something. The truth is, if the kids ask every day, then continually break the rules, cause a problem or otherwise get on my nerves, I’m sure as heck NOT going to spend MY paycheck on stuff for them. Sorry, not happening! I know I sound like a humbug, but I’m fed up with it!
I made a huge decision this week after much deliberation. I took this route on the condition that it would be a pay increase for me. We currently get a base salary and then have mileage added onto that at 15 cents a mile. As a floater (someone who bounces from bus to bus as a full time, full benefit substitute), I would get 52 miles a day in addition to my base pay. I was told that this bus was 81 miles a day, a definite increase. When I inherited the bus, the original driver left me with nothing. No names of the kids, no addresses, no emergency contacts for the kids, absolutely NOTHING. It took me nearly a month to acquire all this information from the kids, begging and pleading on my knees for them to bring back the student information sheets, tedious hours putting it all in a spreadsheet for easy organization, the works! It occurred to me that the mileage might be inaccurate, so I re-did the mileage and came out with 52 miles.
This mileage began AT the bus shop, and ended AT the bus shop, with no “in-between” runs. In-between runs such as Middays, Field trips, and other runs were not counted. We are technically supposed to do mileage from our first stop in the morning to our last drop off in the morning, then from our first pick up in the afternoon to our last stop in the afternoon. If I had done it that way, then the mileage would be even less, because during the morning and afternoon run, I have approximately 8 miles that are “empty bus” miles. 2 miles to my first stop in the morning, 2 miles back to the bus shop in the morning, 2 miles to my first pick up in the afternoon, 2 miles back to the bus shop at the end of the day after my last stop. In actuality, the bus should only be approximately 44 miles, and I should be LOSING money from mileage. Because of this actuality, and that we have a new computerized mileage system (so drivers can’t lie and pad their paychecks with false miles) I have decided to give up the route and become a “floater” again.
I discussed this with my boss today and he is fully supportive, however I do feel bad for the kids. They don’t deserve to be bounced either. At this point, I have got to do what is best for me. This job is my only source of income at this point, and I’ve got to look out for myself.
Conflicted and Exhausted,
The Bus Driver
I cannot have a back and forth conversation with 15+ children at once because of the idiot who cuts me off, the idiot that tailgates me and the idiots I work with who relentlessly tie up the CB Radio with useless banter, and stupid questions like “Bus Base to Bus D - Do you have Little Johnny on the bus? Bus F to Bus Base - What do I do with Little Amy who cussed me out? We’re still looking for Little Johnny. How do you spell that child’s name? A M Y…. What were the last 2 letters of her name? A M Y….. What I didn’t hear that, you were walked all over by …
If that sounded confusing, that’s what happens DAILY on the bus CB Radio. It’s incessant and annoying and continually blaring in my ear. Some days and weeks are better than others, but there is a time at least once a month where everyone seems to take their stupid pills all at once. I don’t dare mute it or turn it off because its likely the Bus Base will need to get a hold of me the second I do! The “clicks” are from inconsiderate bus drivers who click the radio while people are talking about important things because they have nothing better to do.
In other news, while I was out, I began to get reports of what happened while I was gone. A fellow bus driver’s 8-year-old son had one of my high school boys use a belt on him. Another bus driver ran into a telephone pole, and then claimed she couldn’t see it. To make matters worse, she didn’t report it to the proper authorities, and the only way the bus shop knew about it was because a parent told ME when I came back what had happened. I had noticed the stop sign leaning/crushed into the pole and had wondered what happened. That same bus driver cannot seem to follow directions and cannot handle a bus at all. Just today she reportedly let a busload of kids off along a busy highway/street with no regards to safety. Those kids were seen walking along the side of the road and were called in by a concerned motorist. She’s going to get a child killed if my boss doesn’t grow a pair and fire her for her irresponsible behavior.
I have kids on the bus this year who are expecting me to do something nice for Christmas (bags of candy and such) but my bus has had some very poor behavior that none of the kids deserve ANYTHING. Every time I’ve tried to implement some form of reward, they take advantage of it and it usually lands me more frustrated than when I started. So many kids on my bus have come to expect that the bus driver will be nice and hand out candy canes or something. The truth is, if the kids ask every day, then continually break the rules, cause a problem or otherwise get on my nerves, I’m sure as heck NOT going to spend MY paycheck on stuff for them. Sorry, not happening! I know I sound like a humbug, but I’m fed up with it!
I made a huge decision this week after much deliberation. I took this route on the condition that it would be a pay increase for me. We currently get a base salary and then have mileage added onto that at 15 cents a mile. As a floater (someone who bounces from bus to bus as a full time, full benefit substitute), I would get 52 miles a day in addition to my base pay. I was told that this bus was 81 miles a day, a definite increase. When I inherited the bus, the original driver left me with nothing. No names of the kids, no addresses, no emergency contacts for the kids, absolutely NOTHING. It took me nearly a month to acquire all this information from the kids, begging and pleading on my knees for them to bring back the student information sheets, tedious hours putting it all in a spreadsheet for easy organization, the works! It occurred to me that the mileage might be inaccurate, so I re-did the mileage and came out with 52 miles.
This mileage began AT the bus shop, and ended AT the bus shop, with no “in-between” runs. In-between runs such as Middays, Field trips, and other runs were not counted. We are technically supposed to do mileage from our first stop in the morning to our last drop off in the morning, then from our first pick up in the afternoon to our last stop in the afternoon. If I had done it that way, then the mileage would be even less, because during the morning and afternoon run, I have approximately 8 miles that are “empty bus” miles. 2 miles to my first stop in the morning, 2 miles back to the bus shop in the morning, 2 miles to my first pick up in the afternoon, 2 miles back to the bus shop at the end of the day after my last stop. In actuality, the bus should only be approximately 44 miles, and I should be LOSING money from mileage. Because of this actuality, and that we have a new computerized mileage system (so drivers can’t lie and pad their paychecks with false miles) I have decided to give up the route and become a “floater” again.
I discussed this with my boss today and he is fully supportive, however I do feel bad for the kids. They don’t deserve to be bounced either. At this point, I have got to do what is best for me. This job is my only source of income at this point, and I’ve got to look out for myself.
Conflicted and Exhausted,
The Bus Driver
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