The bus ride to school every morning was an absolute killer and this morning was shaping up to be worse than usual.
My sophomore year of high school, I was the bus assistant and sat by the preschoolers so I could buckle them in between stops. It was pretty easy money, so why not?
One of the preschoolers was a stop ahead of me and was always buckled by the time he got on. He was the worst one of all.
Nonstop gibberish spewed from his mouth and it was loud at all times. He was a real challenge for somebody who already doesn’t like kids. Even the bus driver would lose his temper from time to time and yell at him.
At the next stop, two preschoolers got on. The little girl used to notoriously cry every day and be upset while her little brother would comfort her.
Comforting kids wasn’t in the job description, so I didn’t do it. She would have to get through the tears with her brother’s help, not mine.
The next stop was an alright kid. All I could remember was the time he sneezed and a long string of snot came out of his nose. Why are kids so gross?
Well a string of snot was going to be nothing compared to what happened next. Along the ride, consoling brother tossed his cookies all over his lap.
The first thought that went through my head was “Am I really expected to unbuckle this kid now that he’s puked all over himself? Nooooo way.”
I’m no nursing student, so seeing puke makes me want to abort mission.
When it came to let the kids off the bus driver saved the day and took care of the kid for me.
Who would have known that somebody like me would be taking care of kids. Would you let me be in charge of your little tykes?
This may be the way you see it now, Maggie. I bet, though, you will eventually come to see the situation differently. To some degree you’re just over your head. Out of your depth. And in the end, I think most high school sophomores would respond the same in this situation.