By 3:40 we made the call. They were due at 3:23. Around 4:05 they came around the corner with a noise that was a combination of screaming, cheering, crying and diesel. 89 degrees, not the best day for this to happen.
As they leaped off the bus, many just fell apart and cried. Their cheeks were all red, they were sweaty. This was a day with a substitute bus driver. Mind you, this was the SAME bus driver that picked them up this morning, but apparently she wasn't able to figure out how to do the SAME route in reverse this afternoon.
At 3:30 I was on the phone with transportation. Eight parents and five cousins were in our front yard wondering what had delayed them.
CALL TO TRANSPORTATION:
"Hello, I'm checking to see what is going on with our child's bus."
"Yes, what route? "
"143"
"143? Yes, we have a big problem we're trying to solve. Please hold..."
Two minutes later:
"Where are you?"
"Chestnut and Elm"
"Chestnut and Elm? Please hold...."
Two minutes later.
"She is lost and they are trying to find where the little girl is crying lives."
"Who's crying? Savannah? "S"? "G"? "K"? "E"?"
"No, none of those names. We don't have the crying girl in our system."
"That may be why she's crying!"
"Hold please. I'll call the driver."
TWO MINUTES LATER:
"She's really lost and can't figure it out. The children are going to guide her home."
"THE CHILDREN?! The children are giving the bus driver instructions of how to get home?!"
"She'll be there any minute."
"Thank you."
10 MINUTES LATER:
They round the corner. We all hear cheers. The driver passes the first stop in our tract. The cheers turn to shouts of anguish. They are all yelling at her that she missed a stop. The girl who lived at that skipped stop was wailing. Her mother was running to our stop, frantic. They all wanted to jump off even if they lived at the furtherest end of the tract one mile away. They didn't care. They all wanted off.
Our daughter and two of her friends jumped off and into the awaiting arms of parents and grandmothers. They fell apart. It was awful. You would think they were traveling through the desert. What our daughter said was so awful is being so close four times and she wouldn't listen. She said it was like the worst dream.
OUR DAUGHTER'S ACCOUNT:
"We got out of school at 3:15 and we were on the bus until 4:10. We had a substitute bus driver who had no idea where she was going.
(photo is just a sad girl. Our daughter asked that we put a sad girl in there since there were so many sad girls on the bus).
My friend Shannon was crying because the bus driver passed her stop. Then, "S" and "G" started crying because it was a very long ride and it felt like we would never get home. Then 5 minutes after they started crying, I started crying too because I was really upset because a bus ride had never been this long. "S" was going to miss her grandma and dance lesson. It was awful!
The bus driver was dropping them off at wrong stops at least three houses away from the right places with no sidewalk. My friend Shannon was using her cell phone to call her dad to find them and pick her up. She was really sad and wanted to get off. It took about three minutes for her dad to find her. She got off. We all were cheering when she got off and was with her dad.
When we were on the bus, there was a bee on the bus. There were two kids who were allergic to bees. It was scary for them, but they were 4th and 5th grade so they were able to move to a seat away from the bee.
When we were on the bus "K" was trying to comfort "S" and it worked when I tried to help her too. Dakota told me that we were the next stop because I was crying too. So I told "S" we were the next stop and she started cheering and so did the whole bus. Three minutes later "K", "S" and I got off the bus.
Everyone that got off at my stop was happy when they got off. They were happy for two reasons, 1. because the bus driver was kind of mean, 2. they were excited to see their parents because it was a long, long ride."
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