I was just outside enjoying my coffee in the not-blistering heat this morning when I heard our school bus making its practice run. I almost ran around to the front yard to jump up and down in the lawn and wave to our bus driver, Mr. Ricky. He’s been our faithful school bus driver for the past 3 years.
One of our veteran neighbors told us that Mr. Ricky has been running the same route in this neighborhood for almost 20 years. That gave this mama great reassurance as I sent my oldest all by her big tiny self up those steps on her first day of Kindergarten. It made it a little easier to watch her ride off with him, seeing her little round face smiling at me out the window on her first day of Kindergarten.
Every spring since I have made strawberry or peach preserves, and in the last week of school I’ve handed him a jar with a silly note like, “Without you we’d be in a jam!” Every August he’s come back and said that our homemade jam is the best he’s had. This past spring, with an infant in my arms, I reached up into the cab to hand him an Amazon gift card, hoping he’d understand that this spring hasn’t allowed the time for the same culinary exploits.
He runs a tight yellow ship. The youngest and the newest sit in the first seats where he can keep an eye on them. He has been known to stop the bus in the subdivision street, get up and walk to the back where the biggest kids were causing a ruckus and wouldn’t settle down. He knows the name of every child in his charge and greets them kindly.
Our front door is visible from the bus stop, and he is so gracious to us, sometimes seeing us strapping on a backpack at the last second–waiting for that last shoe to go on, the quick dash back for a dropped hat, or the reluctant student dolefully boarding the bus with a pout.
As we’re getting ready for school, take a little time to bless your bus driver. If nothing else, smile, learn his or her name. If you’re a carpool family, be courteous to the bus drivers as you’re going about your drop-off, pick-up business. If you’re not in this stage of life, that lives and dies by the school schedule, please be aware. Those rigs aren’t easy to maneuver. Think about all the families who need them to be safe and to be on time. Yield their right of way. Wave to them. They’re a vital part of your community. For the love of God, stop when the lights are blinking.
There is no “Bus Driver Appreciation Week.” The PTA doesn’t send home reminders to send cutesy snacks and happy surprises for our bus drivers. Maybe they should. A little appreciation can go a long way, especially if you are, like us, some of the ones who struggle to get to the bus while the red lights are still flashing.