Once the decision to retire is made, you can’t undo it. The reason is because mentally you are already gone;you’ve already checked out. You have lost the fight; the daily battles you face in getting new business, new accounts and maintaining current business don’t seem to matter. The problem that causes is as a commission salesman is you have put your income in jeopardy. You have lost your edge. And really, that is foreign to you. Before the decision, I’d get up early with a battle plan, so to speak, ready to take on all my competition, eager to solve problems and build relationships. But after the decision, not so much. So now what?
Coming out of church the next Sunday my friend Bill walked past me. Out of nowhere came from my mouth, “Hey Bill, how does someone become a school bus driver? A little shocked, he said, “its not too hard. You go to the school administration office and apply. They’ll teach you, you take a test and bingo, you’re a driver.” So Monday I went down to the South Bend Community School Corporation transportation department and was hired pretty much on the spot. They really did wonder why I wanted to be a driver. I told them I was a product of the SBCSC and it was time to give back. I wanted to be able to, as the first person from the school system they’d see in the morning, make sure they got off the bus with a smile, ready to take on he day. I really did. And so the lady set me up with a trainer who would work with me at a time that was convenient for me and my work schedule. I was about to find out that the time between “they’ll teach you, you’ll take a test, and bingo” is about 75 days. Oh my, what have i done?
I soon found out what that all looked like. The training is mostly about you getting ready for your test. While the driving part is important, that’s really the easy part. Just remember that you have to be very aware of where the backend of the bus is at all times. The difficult part was the memorizing of the important parts under the hood, the different lights and their functions on and around the bus, the parts under the bus, axles, rims, tires drive shaft as well as the gages, fire extinguishers, triangles and the ever important air brake system, which if you made one mistake in the explanation, it was an automatic failure. No pressure. Keep in mind this is a retiree changing careers. And retire I did on the last day of September. On November 23rd this nervously optimistic, crazy old man at 8:30 AM, took the test and became a proud member of the SBCSC Transportation Department. I couldn’t believe it! As a matter of fact I still chuckle every time I climb into that big yellow bus, do my pre-trip inspection and take off to pick up or deliver the kids to school or home. What an honor and a blast it is. Wow!
So no, I never believed I’d be doing this, but I am. It’s been a crazy end to the school year. COVID 19 put an end to driving my students. I really miss them. I had a special relationship with them. I was a sub for most of my time. Getting a different route each day is VERY hard. It’s dark in the morning and the street signs are tough to see. You’re always late and that makes kids nervous; and loud; and it unsettles them. But my last bus I had for a couple of weeks. Then the bus driver didn’t come back. I was finally able to tell my new little buddies that yes, I was going to be their bus driver permanently. The kids and their parents alike were happy. But, I don’t think they were as happy as this old man was. I took “never too old” and nailed it. I took “why do you want to do this?” and lived it. What a way this is to go out. I’m so looking forward to August because there are more kids to love on and to make sure they get off to a great start in the morning. There are more teachers to encourage that they have an partner who is working to do what he can to put their students in the right frame of mind. I still shake my head because really, I never thought I’d be doing this.
Twenty7:7Teen 