"Pets"

Knowing your riders you also know the ones that have pets.  They talk about their dogs, cats, hamsters, lizards, snakes, goldfish and a menagerie of other animals.  They cry and tell you when they have lost their friend and excitedly tell you about the arrivial of a new friend.  You get to see bites from puppies and scratches  from kittens.  Those who have hamsters sometimes get on the bus smelling like cedar bedding.  There are the dogs and a few cats that follow children to the bus to watch them board and from time to time I have to tell a sad puppy dog face (literally) that no they can not get on the bus too.  There is one neighborhood dog that we count on each day to get up as we pass his house, he stretches and starts walking up the road.  As we circle through the neighborhood we always find him in the same yard down the road doing his business and laying back down.  In the afternoons there's a little black and white pup that can be found just about anywhere in the neighborhood waiting for a child any child to get off the bus and he chases after them with his tail wagging so furiously that he can hardly keep his balance.  His enthusiasm was not appreciated by a four year old.  As he rounded the corner of her house she let out a scream only reserved for a horror movie and made a mad dash all the way back to the bus, though she was only three feet from her front door.  As with most tender hearted children they are always concerned when something is wrong with their pet. "Mr. Brandon," a kindergartner started one morning, "I'm sure glad we got our cat fixed yesterday."  I couldn't help myself and asked, "Was he broken?" "I guess so," she replied. "He kept howling all night and would only quit when you threw a shoe at him."