"Pass the Kleenex"

Threes, you know how we say bad things always happen in threes.  There were three kindergartners in seat three, two girls and one boy.  Event number one: Kindergarten boy kisses kindergarten girl next to him while they hide behind the seat.  Got a little sugar from a cute girl, how can that be bad?  Both girls rat him out.  He starts to cry.  Event number two:  The kisser now calls the kissie a ugly name and she starts to cry.  Event number three:  The kissless feeling left out and lonely now ask the boy, in the seat in front of her, if he will come over to her house.  He says, "No!"  She now cries.  Kleenex to seat three.  It was a weepy kind of afternoon.  We've all been there.

"Perspective"

A small inquisitive voice asked, “Mr. Brandon what are those for?”  I glanced over my left shoulder to see the eyes and nose of a young man struggling to see over the partition between us. I asked him what he wanted and he repeated, “What are those for?” “What things do you mean?” I asked.  “All those buttons and knobs by you,” he said.  He indicated the switches that were next to me.  So I told him how they worked the heaters, air conditioners, and other devices on the bus.  The feature that out did them all was the lever that allowed me to move the steering wheel up and down.  He got off the bus in a state of wonder.  The next day he was behind me again but this day he was the teacher, passing on the knowledge that he had gained the day before.  He explained to a little girl, who looked on with fascination, each of the switches and what they did.  He saved the best till last and said, “Mr. Brandon show her what that lever does.”  So I pulled on it and raised the wheel up and then back down.  Then he finished his instructional talk with, “Isn’t my bus wonderful?”  Make your day better and go through it with the wonder and fascination of a four year old.  Look with wonder, at the switches there are to flick, knobs to turn, and levers to pull.  Ask, how do birds find their way home, why do cats purr and babies coo, how can the touch of someone’s hand make you feel warm inside and a kiss from a child on your cheek can almost make you cry?  Don’t overlook the wonder of the smallest detail, take nothing for granted.  Then say, “Isn’t my world wonderful.”

"Southern Advantages"

The advantages of driving a bus in the rural south:

10. You don’t have to drive on snow. Schools are dismissed due to flurries.

 9.  A cotton field can make a picturesque turn around spot.

 8.  Samples of homemade jerky from your riders.

 7.  Wal-Mart on Friday night allows you to speak to any parents you need to talk to.

 6.  Wild turkeys crossing the road can give you some time for peaceful reflection.

 5.  The only argument about fashion is which camo pattern is better.

 4.  No matter how many students you have on your bus, it can all be narrowed down to one or two families.

 3.  Students that can give suggestions on how to get rid of varmints, four legged or two.

 2.  Being able to talk about hunting with a 3rd grader who shows you a picture of the buck she shot that morning, while standing on her back porch.

 1.  You can yell, “Bubba, stop that!” and half of the students on the bus will stop what they’re   doing.

"Disposable"

What do you hold as the most valuable and what are the things in your life that are disposable?  Those things that we hold the most dear are the things that we put time and effort into.  We fight to the last second holding on with all our might.  If it needs mending we mend it, if it needs time we take the time.  Those things that we consider disposable we do not give a second thought.  It’s out with the old and in with the new.  No time wasted on what can be easily replaced.  One young man asked another young man why a particular student had not boarded the bus.  He said, "His father got made at his mother last night and left and is not coming back.  So they have moved in with a friend."  I'm now curious about the conversation that is sure to follow.  I'm wondering how they will deal with one of their friends losing a parent from the home.  I can't help but consider how I would feel if my father would have left our family.  Then they discussed what was on their minds.  This was the response, "I wonder if he took the Play Station with him?"  Now I know there are all kind of people out there who are in situations that they have not asked for and they were given no other choice.  But I see families that have dads, stepdads, moms, step-moms, boyfriends, girlfriends and they come and go through a revolving door.  Students who never know where they are going to get off or who will be there when they do.  So many have given so little to what should be the most important thing in their life.  They believe that their life is their own to do with as they please regardless of those who are around them.  The only commitment that they have is to self and everything else has become disposable.  Parents guess what, you have become disposable too.  You now rank below the Play Station.