Half my Life

I realized that since I'd driven a school bus for 36 years that was exactly half of my life!  Yikes....so at 72 I'm reitred and have been since March of 2012.  It was a careet that chose me more or less....my degree was in Sociolgy and after a few ill fated jobs in child wefare et I decided the whole system was so broken and didn't pursue any masters to enable better jobs in social work.  After many jobs of no lasting consequence I landed work as a bus aide....then trained to drive the big yellow thing to  double my pay.  I always have enjoyed driving so learning to drive stick on a bus was a "fun" challange.  .At first I thought I'd only be at it a few years until I got a "real" job.  But then I decided...hey..no fancy wardrobe needed...no boss on my immediate back, and I enjoy kids.  I decided to change my attitude and make my job fun and to try and make an impact on children''s lives in this way.  I put my heart into my work and can say I did my best and tried to make each child feel special at least on the bus.  I tried to stop bullying on the bus ....tried to respect them and in return earn their respect. Rather than just screaming out commands I tried to talk with them   On breaks during field trips in the middle of the day I did a lot of photography as that was my real passion.  It enabled me to take pictures all over the place as well as of the kids.  
    I also put a lot of my energies into the bus driver's union working as their shop steward for the majority of my years there.  That was very challanging working with both drivers and management and in negotiations.  I learned a lot of labor law and how to compromise when necessary and also how to prepare and help lead a mini strike.  I took some college level labor classes just for self education and participated in many union functions.  We even put together a union jug band that we played for  at some of our functions .  Lots of fun as well as struggles.  Over the years, and because we had the respect of the parents, our job benefits increased greatly and the job is now one a person can live on and support a family .  I covered my family 'with our good health insurance which was great.
     I learned so much from the kids....from the ones who had many physical and mental challages to the ones who were bullied or very quiet or extoverted...they all left their mark on me I know and I am thankful for those gifts .  One girl wrote and read a poem for me at a school function one time that made me cry.  So I have to say...I never planned on driving bus 36 years, but it was a good career and the friends and families I met over the years are precious...so that's a slice of who I am that some of you may not know.