Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Have a Happy Day

This is a sign that was given to my old bus driver when he retired.  His co workers had the sign made for him.

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I smiled when I heard the story behind the sign..it was hung on one of the buildings at his retirement home.

He died a number of years ago..but I will always remember his smile and how his eyes twinkled when he greeted the kids on the bus morning and night.

Country kids..we knew nothing of having our own car with which to drive to school..we rode the bus.  We appreciated the warm ride to school in the morning, and being left off at the end of our drive every night.  It was our bus driver that got us there safely…year after year.

We didn’t misbehave on the bus..it was a privilege to ride the bus..and we didn’t take that privilege for granted.  If we messed up and got kicked off the bus..or even got a “pink slip” we would have found ourselves walking to school..for me that was 15 miles..so I just kept my hands to myself, looked out the window and enjoyed the ride:)

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18 comments:

Nezzy (Cow Patty Surprise) said...

'Love the sign!!! Yep, for me that was Ralph Clayton...a jewel of a fella.

I'd wait at the end of our lane for that big old yellow beast. In the winter bundled with slacks under my dress. (dress code...only dresses for gals). The last day of school Ralph would treat us to a stop at Castles Drive In for a great malt or ice cream Sunday. What a ride!

God bless ya my friend and have a magnificent day!!!

Hidden Haven Homestead said...

What memories your post brought back for me! When I was school age teenagers could drive a school bus and the guy that drove mine was Jerry Jones. What is funny is that my daughters bus driver was the same Jerry Jones and now 2 of my grandkids have Jerry Jones! He is retiring at the end of the year. He always tells everyone getting off the bus at school "make it a good one". Thank you for this post.

Primitive Stars said...

Morning, how sweet, love the sign, gotta love small towns and the people in them.......Enjoy the day, Blessings Francine.

DJan said...

I don't hear wonderful stories like this one about school buses or their drivers these days. It's sure nice to hear about great guys like your old bus driver. Times have changed... not for the better.

Country Gal said...

Brought back memories for me as well , living on our farm taking the school bus in the winters all wrapped up waiting for the buss and soo glad when it came it would be all nice and warm and he had blankets in the bus for us if we got cold. My school went from kinder garden to grade 8 . My bus driver was Mr Dodd's who was also a cattle farmer and his farm wasn't to far from our school . I had heard he passed away a few years ago at the age of 75 and that he was still happy driving the bus ! He always waved to us as he dropped us of at school and yelled have a good day see ya later! and when dropped us off home always said be good for parents and do your homework !Thanks for this post I haven't though about this for years ! Have a good day !

MTWaggin said...

I love that they made him a sign and posted it so he could enjoy in his later years. You are right, kids today don't "get" that riding the bus is an honor and that they could be walking!

Anonymous said...

Sweet memories for me, too. Things have sure changed over the years, sadly.

Shirley said...

We too rode the bus, and for the most part were respectful of the bus driver. I think bus drivers today have it a lot tougher.

L. D. said...

I did a lot of bus riding in my life time. My senior year, my dad bought me a Ford Fairlane for $600 and I then didn't have to ride the bus again. Our hills were all gravel roads and a couple of times we went into the ditch during the winter.

Nancy said...

I rode the school bus for 12 years. Very few high schoolers drove cars to school in those days. On the days, I was given permission to drive the family car to school, I felt very grown up.

Muffie said...

What a beautiful memory. I never lived in the country, but I did take the school bus for a short time. Mr. Russ Trout was the driver, and he was so kind to us.
Nowadays, kids become delinquents on the bus, and the drivers have to be disciplinarians while they're steering through traffic. We've had some serious accidents around here!
Peace,
Muff

Rita said...

He must have been a really nice bus driver!
I walked to school, but it was a rarity for anyone to get in trouble on the buses back in the "old days". Like you said, you didn't want to walk. And parents back then would have made you walk and kids didn't want to get in trouble with principal or parents. Times have changed quite a bit. When I have been waiting behind a school bus--well, there are times I don't know how the bus drivers can stand it. And I wonder where respect went.
I only had to walk a few blocks, but when it was below zero and windy it seemed like miles--LOL! ;)

Muffy's Marks said...

Oh man, do I ever remember those bus rides back and forth to high school. We had a really nice driver also, but he was too nice and lost a little bit of control with those senior boys!!! They were trouble.."big farm boys from Hollandtown" as they were referred to.

lisa said...

Now that is a happy day! Our kids's bus driver is just fantastic, the kids have loved him because he takes no crap and if you do him right he does the kids right.

Red said...

Great story! For my last two years of school I road the bus. I did walk the last half mile to school a few times.

Karen said...

There are some kids these days that need to be made to walk for misbehaving on the bus. Can you just imagine the stink the parents would make if their kids got kicked off the bus. The bus still stops at the bottom of our driveway, but no kids from our house have got on for the last six years. One bus driver gave all the kids pizza on the last day of school. You couldn't pay me enough to take that job:(

Jacqi Stevens said...

A fifteen mile walk in a Minnesota winter would sure be a deterrent for me, too. Getting that idea of a bus ride being a privilege sure puts it in a different light.

Terry and Linda said...

Roy Mott was my bus driver for years. I still remember him. I also remember buying him Christmas presents, although it was common to do so for bus drivers back then. He was sure a nice guy.

Thanks for the memory!

Linda
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