Put a smile on your face -- even if you have to fake it

To be a really good bus driver it helps if you're happy all the time. It's good for the students, it's good for the teachers, and it's good for your blood pressure, which is really the main point.

But can bus drivers really be happy all the time? Are you kidding? Some days we just want to stop the bus, get off, head to the nearest stock pond to do a little fishing, and leave that busload of wild Indians to manage for themselves.

But we can't, because most of the riders are too young to drive, and if one ever figured out how to do it, wouldn't THAT be headline news on the local TV station:

"Today in Stinky Creek, Texas, a school bus driver, fed up with his job, left his riders on the bus and went fishing.

Little Johnny, who is only a second grader, figured out how to start the bus and drove the rest of the students home.

It's not sure at this time whether or not the bus driver will lose his job, but the probability of it is very high."

Not only would a story like that make headlines locally, but I'm sure it would be picked up on all national channels, and even find its way over to Europe and beyond.

There are many days when I feel like I'm just going around in circles -- which I am. And there are many days when I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I get mighty depressed because I know my route doesn't go that way. But why take it out on the kids? They just want to get home to play Nintendo after a long day of hearing, "Don't do that. Sit down. Stop running. Why are you talking so loud? Do you act this way at home? Don't get smart with me. I'm calling your mother."

What they don't need is Mr. Grumpy as a bus driver. What they need is an adult who will keep them safe, get them home and smile at the same time.

Oh well, it's just my opinion.