For this one, I’m going to take off my “retired combat medic” hat and put on the one for my normal 0600-0900; 1330-1645 job.
It all stems from something that happened yesterday/last night at “Friendly City School District” near the “Friendly Neighborhood ALS Ambulance Company” that I applied to.
If you didn’t catch it on msnbc, here's a link to the story. Go ahead and read it, I’ll wait.
Pissed yet? If not, read it again!
It takes quite a bit to get that little line under the picture of a CDL in Illinois that says “SPB Class B/C”. That particular line on my licenses says I can legally transport children to and from school in Illinois.
In addition to getting the appropriate class CDL, there’s fingerprinting, background check, physical, drug screening, and quite a bit of classroom instruction—8 hours of which is provided by the State. The remainder of mine came from “Ye Olde School Bus Contracting Company”. To keep that School Bus Permit (SBP), we annually have to go through a 2-hour refresher class and physical.
Now, yesterday/last night(Thursday night), a young one ended up in a bus yard scared until another driver (we heard mechanic at YOSBCC) got him on a bus and to school—hearing that told me one thing…
something that was DRILLED INTO MY FEEBLE MIND from day one…
that driver did not check the bus. Whoever it was did not take the 45 seconds to a minute to walk up and down the aisle, checking on, between, and under the seats. I do this four times a day everyday, sometimes more.
Even the dispatcher at YOSBCC reminds us every afternoon in a safety message.
WE GOTTA WALK THE DAMN BUS!!!!!!
If that was to happen to a driver at YOSBCC, not only would that driver no longer be employed, nor have a SBP for three years, nor every other driver beating a path to their door for a beat down, but that driver would also be sitting in the local hoosegow on CHILD ENDANGERMENT charges—that is correct.
So when you put your child, niece, nephew, grandchild, neighbor kid, sibling, etc. on to that big yellow sardine can with the blinking lights and stop sign (don’t get me started on THAT right now…), kinda put a bug in that driver’s ear to do some good walking between routes.
I think I need to change hats before I get so pissed at this that I give myself a CVA…I need some coffee
Til next time…
I CARE I SEARCH
1 comment:
I have never been a bus driver, but I have several kids, all but one ride the bus (he is too wee just now to be going to school) and one of said childrens can (and does) fall asleep anywhere. He has fallen asleep on the 40 min bus ride in the afternoons. His sisters have had to wake him, the bus driver has had to wake him, (i swear he is narcoleptic). So I can see how this COULD happen, but to NOT check to see that all childrens got off the bus that got on IS criminal. Blessings to you for doing what you do.
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