bus stories part 2

I spoke too soon about being done with the bus. I drove it today to shuttle people around for our church's beautiful day project. driving it reminded me of another story:

once I was shuttling some kids from one parking lot to another- it was a crisp fall evening. there was a pretty hyper young man on the bus who used to hang from the ceiling while I was driving the bus. that, and scream, and throw things, and other means of distraction.

 

on this particular night I was getting ready to drive, he was sitting behind me, and he crumpled up an autumn leaf on the top of my hair. I didn't know what he was doing, I just felt him messing with my hair while I was driving.

so there I was, driving on the freeway, with dried up autumn leaf on my head. then he began to pull on my seatbelt. (to preserve his identity, I'll call him David.) I said, "David! what the heck?! what are you doing?!" and he pulled and pulled that seatbelt across my neck- while I was driving on the freeway with a bus full of kids.

then the perfect storm happened.

a piece of leaf fell off my head and onto the seatbelt. at that same instant, I turn around to scold this young man. at the same time, he let go of the seatbelt. at that moment, the seatbelt turned into a slingshot, and shot that piece of dried leaf into my eye-ball and under my eye-lid- while I was driving down the freeway with a bus full of kids.
I was blinded.
with every movement of my eye, I could feel the leaf scratching my eyelid and eye ball. I panicked. I scread, "David! what did you do?!" "nothing." he said and immediately sat down in silence.

I slowed down, i blinked, I rubbed my eyes- all I could see was blur and all I could feel was pain. I finally got the leaf out and pieced together what had happened. I was so mad.  I called his mother. I clearly expressed my frustration and the dangerous situation that David had caused. I could tell that she had heard worse.

anyhow- the moral of the story is, sometimes driving a church bus is a hazardous situation, and could require safety goggles.

God is love.
-rev-rob