The following is the first “Life Lesson” post I wrote about driving a school bus (published in Feb. 2011). It bears little resemblance to how later posts turned out, especially those included in my book. However, I learned as I went, as you will see.
Keep checking back every half hour as I will be posting 9 more “Life Lessons” today in celebration of this being my LAST DAY as a school bus driver.
“Stormy Weather”
What one person calls terrible weather capable of ending life as we know it, may be just another work day to another. This truth is never more obvious than to bus drivers.
Recently, we have had more snow in Tennessee than at any time I can personally remember. We have even used up all of our available “snow days.” Yet, while we were closing schools for snow down here, schools up north were quite literally trucking along.
Looking out the windshield of my bus onto the lawn, you can see an inch or so of white stuff. Due to the lack of equipment and funds to regularly take care of the frozen precipitation (it’s not the norm down here, you know), just an inch, if it sticks to the roads, will shut down schools in a heartbeat. The mountainous and rural back roads off the main highways, where most kids live, usually are not salted or plowed. Typically, people around here just wait a day or so for the arctic terror to melt. Until then, driving is dangerous, so buses stay parked and empty.
On the other hand, my wife was in Chicago during the last blizzard. She sent me this picture of a school bus transporting children in weather that would have given a Tennessee school administrator heart failure. What was the difference? They are used to it up there, and far more prepared. To people in Chicago, our worst weather is just another work day. But I wonder how they would deal with our heat, humidity, and lung-clogging pollen come August?
The Life Lesson
Problems will come in life that may seem small to some, but huge to others. The key is to never view another person’s problem as insignificant. What you may think is no big deal to you, just might be earth-shattering to somebody else.
Learn to show grace and mercy to those who aren’t handling things as well as you. You may be the strength and encouragement they need to get through a tough time. Who knows, a time may come when an unexpected storm will snow you in.
The Recovering Legalist 