Dear Editor,
In response to the letter about the “in town” bus driver; I rode the bus from 1977 to 1989 and was forgotten three times that I remember in all those years. My son rode a bus from 1997 to 2010 and he was forgotten twice (once he fell asleep). I also have a child who will be entering “the system” in four years and she may be “forgotten,” too.
You look at it as a service that you pay good money to get. I look at it as a trusted friend taking responsibility for my precious child and everyone else’s precious children before and after school.
Most bus drivers follow all rules and regulations and get their passengers home safely, even if parents have to wait a few extra minutes sometimes. Some even go above and beyond their regular routines, which they do not have to do. It certainly is nerve wracking and sometimes an inconvenience, especially if we have to wait half an hour or more due to road conditions or weather and the bus driver or office worker can’t phone everyone quick enough to let them know.
But the child is safe and with someone they know and see every day. I would rather have my child “forgotten” on a bus with someone I can trust (where’s he going to go that’s unsafe?) than lost in a mall with hundreds of strangers.
You have two children. Twice a day on school days the bus drivers have 50, 60 or even 70-plus children to be responsible for. There’s traffic to watch and road conditions to take into account. At least one of the students might be rowdy, and a couple or more will be loud. There’s the hum of conversation and the singers and bursts of laughter. There are no seat belts. There will be at least one child sleeping. Then there are the really little ones who are barely visible over the seats with only a head of hair peeking out. With this “mess” of responsibility, I would not be complaining. I would be saying “thank you ever so much for taking on a responsibility that I would never trust myself to do.” We are all human and we all forget. How many times do we parents forget to call the bus drivers and let them know our child will not be taking the bus that day? Don’t you think that’s an inconvenience? Routines are chopped up a bit with kindergarten students anyway, because they only go two or three times a week. So, if by accident, one is “forgotten” for a few minutes, I wouldn’t say the world has come to an end. Isn’t there a quote that says, “Walk a mile in my shoes...?”
Sincerely,
Denise Murchison
