This afternoon I was “on standby” – which means that you go into the “base” and sit in the waiting room for a few hours and wait to see if any last minute calls come in from a driver that isn’t going to be able to do/complete their bus run. There are usually a couple of bus drivers on “standby” and they often chat while they wait for an assignment. The “standby” drivers can hear the chatter on the two-way radios of the other drivers.
Every day there is SOMETHING interesting going on over the radio. Today was a driver calling in to say that a parent had met her at the bus stop and warned the driver that there was a black bear running loose in the neighborhood. The driver was calling in to base, asking what she should do about it – wanted to know if she should just return the kids to school or keep taking them home. Interesting dilemma; I don’t know what I would have done in her place, and I’m glad it wasn’t me!
She was advised to keep delivering the kids to their homes and to just watch to make sure that the kids made it inside their houses. It is a suburban neighborhood and the houses are close to the road. I wonder what would have happened if a kid WAS attacked half-way to their house? I don’t know what I would have done if I was the driver and saw a bear attack one of the kids walking to their door! What would YOU have done it a situation like that, if you were the driver?