25/40 - Don't Smile Until Halloween

One of the most shocking parts of my past to most people is that I used to be a licensed professional bus driver. Texas A&M University is the 2nd largest land grant school in the country and when I was in school had a fleet of over 120 buses that ran 20+ routes on and off campus from 6am until 2am for students, faculty, and university staff to get around our huge campus.

I started off as a bus driver on campus for the transportation department. It was amazing how many hilarious things I observed from my perch at the front of a massive maroon and white bus.

I heard about how crazy the night before was for people who didn't think the driver could hear them talking about their date in full detail. I watched a woman run from the parking lot to try and catch my bus and have the whole bus watching while we waited only to slip and fall and have her book bag full land beside her and explode into a plume of papers flying everywhere. I even had a guy jump off the side of a curb while looking over his shoulder and slam directly into the side of my parked bus. Not sure how I snuck up on him.

But one of my favorite lessons happened when I transitioned from being a campus bus driver to being a yellow school bus driver for the local school district.