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Twenty-Second Job of Bob - School Bus third go-a-round - Part I - cameras; beatings; actors; 100 kids
This entry was posted on 4/28/2010 1:55 AM and is filed under Jobs of Bob.
Now in the fall of 1995 the jobs of Bob waters really get muddy. I was working and volunteering for the ambulance service in New Glarus and taking the medical classes for it. I was training to be a nursing assistant as well. And, I needed money.
I drove by a school bus company every day on my way to nursing assistant class in Madison. They always had a "help wanted" sign out front. Even in the best economy, there is always a need for school bus drivers. There are several reasons for that. The driver's driving record is held to a higher standard. Many people since the 1990s just don't bother to even keep up their regular license renewal let alone any extra endorsements. And, well...few people want to deal with the bull shit of wrecking a whole day with just three and a half hour's work. You drive for an hour and a half in the morning. Then you drive an hour and a half in the afternoon. If you are lucky you may nab a kindergarten route at noon. The day is ruined for four hours or so. And, do I even have to mention that working with naughty and rude kids sucks?
When I was not in nursing assistant class I went through the school bus drivers' training at the bus company. The buses were bigger; the rules had changed; the last time I drove bus was 1981. As the semester wore on, I got my bus license again and filled in spots for absent drivers until the holidays. Looking back, I don't know how I fit everything in. I was 39 years old. I had already pretty much died once in 1990 with blood clots. But, I was determined to trudge on with my new educational lease on life no matter what.
In the spring of 1996 I took on a daily route - morning and afternoon. The buses were huge from what I remembered 20 years earlier. Now they held a hundred kids and now they had cameras to watch said kids. One kid beat up a class mate on my bus.
I said, "Hey, stupid. You are on camera."
The kid paused for a second and said, "Well shit! I guess I am a god damned fuck'n actor."
I knew then my latest tenure as a driver would be short.
Once while substituting for another bus driver who quit, I was advised by the supervisor that a pair of nine-year-olds, an Amy with flaming red hair and freckles, and a Clifford with a bowl hair cut, must never sit anywhere but the front seat. I did not take long for that to become a train wreck. When I pulled the bus over about half way through the route and asked Amy why she had just flailed on a now sobbing Clifford with both fists, she simply replied, “But Clifford has to be beaten…every day!”
On a snowy day in mid-winter I dropped Amy off at the end of her street. Some times some Junior High boys got off at the same spot. I could read their minds. One of the boys was chubby and when he did ride the bus usually managed to be a prick. Ol' Chubby Boy grabbed up a snow ball as he exited the bus and looked at Amy. I shouted out the door, "I would not do that if you know what's good for you, stupid."
Chubby Boy gave me the finger and chucked the hard snow ball in the back of Amy's head at close range. As I drove the bus off down the street, I could see his friends abandon him as Amy had him down on the ground pounding the fuck out of him with both fists a flailing.
"Fool," I thought as I laughed out loud now well down the street.
Hope you have three evil children and an alcoholic wife nowadays Chubby Boy.
Note: This Blog "Jobs of Bob" Category does not list the jobs chronologically - I write about the experiences as they pop up in my memory and I often revisit an older job. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Jobs of Bob Page for an ordered chronology.
Wisconsin Military Service Person Special Mention of the Week
(each week Cooldadiomedia mentions a Wisconsin service person killed in Iraq or Afghanistan
Sergeant First Class Matthew R. Kading, 32, of Madison, Wisconsin, died on Monday, October 31, 2005 of wounds he received from a roadside bomb. He was under care at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, at the time of his death. The device that caused his wounds went off by his convoy vehicle while traveling near Tikrit, Iraq on October, 19. Kading, was a member of the Army Reserve's 983rd Engineer Battalion, based in Monclova, Ohio. He was a construction engineering supervisor for that unit while in Iraq. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel noted Matthew attended Madison East High School from 1987 to 1991. He joined the Army Reserves after graduating in 1991. About a year later Kading joined the Regular Army for about 10 years and spent time as an electrician for them in South American duty stations. After his stint in the Regular Army, he returned to the Reserves. The Journal Sentinel went on to say Matthew was an avid Fantasy Baseball League enthusiast - even keeping up with the interest from Iraq. According to an obituary found on answers.yahoo.com, Matt enjoyed baseball, collecting baseball cards and bowling. The Yahoo posting also went on to mention that at the time of his death, Matthew was survived by parents, Ron and Karla Kading of Madison; sister, Melissa "Missie" Kading (Jay Umhoefer) of Madison; and fiancee, Lindsay Sayles of Genesee Depot. Matthew Kading was the 48th Wisconsin Military Service person to be killed in Iraq since Spring 2003.
As of this blog entry's posting date:
95,965 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
9,449 Iraqi Security Forces have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
4,395 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
1042 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
317 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
681 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
31,778 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
5,629 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
102 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
18 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
140 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
21 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
Wisconsin military service person special mention of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; washingtonpost.com; thehighground.org; Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs; iraqbodycount.org; and, icasualties.org.
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