Saturday, August 30, 2008

I thought i had seen it all....

Normally when i take a trip out of town-
it involves many hours of uneventful driving--
lots of time to let my mind wander.
I usually come up with some amazing thoughts
and then when it comes time to put them down--
Not so amazing--
something gets lost in the translation.
All the wonderful thoughts
i had formed into beautiful sentences
GONE.

By the time i got home tonight
i was wound up--tight
my normally uneventful drive
had became quite eventful.
How quickly things can changs

It was only a trip from Tucson--
less than 2 hours
but the last half hour--
WOW WIEEEE--

Let's start with the sound coming from my bus--
sorta like an explosion--
i thought i had dropped my transmission
then i realized that i probably had blown a tire--
as i pulled off the freeway
my mind was reeling
as to how i was going to get my bus load of people home.

I thought to myself
spare tire under the bus
Full of football players
Let the games begin--
A real life exhibition of brawn--
And no one took me up on the challenge?!

Now for plan B:
There was anther football bus
and then i managed to get a hold of the cheer bus
(BIG MISTAKE)
After assessing the damage of the tire
we decided that i could still drive--
the inside duel tire had lost its tread
and as long as it wasn't rubbing
i could proceed.

We also decided to shift the kids off my bus
and load the other buses to capacity
there by lightening my load.
When all was said and done
I ended up with just a handful of coaches on my bus.

I started driving again--
with the other two buses following me
About 10 minutes into the remaining half hour trip
the cheer bus radios us
and tells us he needs to pull over
"to handle a situation"
"WHAT?"

I am thinking he is having bus problems--
but NO--
he wants to pull over to deal with "Behavior" issues
I explain to him that is what he has coaches on the bus for
he then tells me they are not doing anything
The head coach is on my bus and he wants to know what is going on.
So i ask--
The driver responds that he will take care of it
but he is going to have to pull over---

Let me just say
that in all my years of driving
I have only had to pull over with a trip
ONCE!!!!
And we are talking major problems--
(like kids hanging out the windows
up to their waist playing volleyball
between the bus and the truck next to us--
that is a problem--A BIG problem
that is worthy of pulling the bus over for)

Now we are less than 5 miles from the school
he still wants to pull over
So we all exit.
As we are stopped
My head coach gets off to deal with the problem
and this driver goes postal--
NUTS--
completely out of control.
And is YELLING

It was ugly to say the least.
I suggested that he drive my bus
which didn't have any kids on it
he didn't want to do that--
(remember i had the blown tire)

After about 20 minutes
a phone discussion with the principal
(which i got to field--since the other driver wouldn't)
reassuring her that we were working on getting the kids home safely.

We did finally manage to get everyone back on the buses
and within two minutes of leaving
I was radioed again that he was having problems.
What is going on with this dude?--
give me a break!!
I truly felt it was nothing but a control issue--
And i have come to the conclusion that there are some people
who are NOT cut out for this job.
Or maybe it is the job of working with kids--
Or maybe it is just the job of working with people--
that stresses him out--
maybe he should think of becoming a long haul trucker--
that way i would know for sure that i will never have to work with him again.
Talk about an awkward situation.

SIDENOTE:
I have been accused of being evasive--
exactly what this driver was--
not giving any additional information--
and it was not my business to question him--
Bottom line--
He felt people were standing on his bus--
it was so minor that the coaches didn't even see it,
and the kids that were accused of doing it
didn't even know they had?!
And as far as i am concerned
he should be paying MORE attention
to the road and driving
than trying to catch people
re situating themselves--

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

so what was the issue? you know the meat and taters that prompted the driver to lose it? inquiring minds want to know.

Melanie said...

Quite the ride---good blogging story:)

Dianne said...

And here in lies the reason that I am not a bus driver.