give the bus driver a break

a senior in high school without a job, and a gas tank that all too often has to go unfed, i have been riding the bus for thriteen years (kindergarten included). i am known on my bus as the "bus ghost" because, for all they know, i just live there and haunt it (not hard to imagine, i suppose, given my severe paleness, surly attitude, and the rarity that i ever speak...).

the only one who has stayed on nearly as long as i have is our driver. poor woman, she started her chauffer carreer with such eagerness. After six years, though, of being spat on (literally), having things thrown at her, such as pencils, rocks, and insults (bitch, whore, kunt, and dildo, among the least explicit), and angry parents threatening to take her down when she tries to fight back, well, obviously takes some of the fun out of the job.

i tell you, the kids she has to deal with are pure evil. everyone stands, then has the gall to be pissed off when a sudden stop makes them flip a seat or fall on their face in the isles. eight year olds issue language that would make a sailer blush. i've seen more fights at 60mph than i've seen small-town hicks with farmer tans.

they don't dare mess with me, of course (who would wanna call the wrath of the ghoul next door?), but i hate that they don't give our bus driver the same respect. it makes me mad. i mean, i get to leave at the end of the month, and never have to come back. she, however, has got to come back year after year after year after year, until she either retires (horror!), or she quits/gets fired (equal prospects, given the idiocy of her cargo).

so, i guess what i'm going to leave you with is this: if you take public transportation, give the driver a break. after all, it's not like you have to be around them all the time, like they need to be around people like you all day, every day. that's how they make their living. and it's a good thing they're so patient -- what if every driver gets the one jerk-wad that can't get off their back, then how would you get from class to soccer practice to wherever the heck else without them? you'd have to rely on your own self, dang it!

give the bus driver a break, people. they're a better brand of human than you jerk-wads out there.