It’s amazing the things you do in life that you never imagined.  I’m now a substitute school bus driver. Being a substitute school bus driver is not a thing most of us aspire to. No, it’s an occupation that you fall into when it comes along at the right time. I’m finding it more than just an occupation—it’s an opportunity, an adventure. The opportunity lies in suddenly finding myself a part of so many other people’s lives—from the other bus drivers to all the kids. The adventure lies in . . . well, picture 84 kids on a bus; some are bullies, some are sweet, some are sick (throw-up variety), some are exuberant, some are sad, the list goes on. You get the picture.

Being a substitute bus driver makes me a rookie. The ladies (in my case all the regular drivers are ladies) have been driving between 10 and 25 years. They are veterans.  Blizzards, heat waves, mechanical breakdowns far from home, sick students—they’ve seen it all. I worry about the day that something unforeseen is going to happen on my bus. Will I be able to handle it appropriately?

The other day I was picking up at the high school. There was a line of busses in front of me in the usual order.  As the doors closed and the busses began to move out one of the veteran drivers radioed me.

“Tory, can you follow me to Levan today? I’ve got a feeling this bus isn’t going to make it.”

I wondered what that was about, but I told her I would. Levan is a very small town ten miles south of the high school. Even with its small population there are three busses of kids that travel into Nephi every day to the primary and secondary schools. Just outside of Nephi the highway climbs a ridge. I was a quarter-mile behind the veteran’s bus and was catching up. Catching up was unusual. I noticed her bus was leaving an unusual amount of diesel fumes behind. As I got closer I smelled, not diesel, but burning brakes. I could see smoke pouring out of her right, rear tire wells. This looked serious to me. I radioed her and explained what I saw. I wondered what she was going to do. The highway to Levan is well-maintained, but it has no shoulder whatsoever. Instead there is a steep embankment that could roll a bus.

“Okay,” she said, calmly. “I’ll pull off at the IFA road. You follow me.”

She knew the road well. There was a turnout for trucks that needed to turn off the highway to go to the IFA plant. That way she would be able to get her bus off the busy highway. She pulled off and I followed, not knowing what she was going to do.  As I waited for further instructions the third Levan bus pulled in behind me. The driver was another veteran.

“Tory, send all your Westside kids to me,” she said over the radio.

My kids were going crazy with the excitement of an unexpected stop and the high that comes from breathing the fumes of burning brakes. I didn’t understand what she meant. Some of my kids had understood and the next thing I know about a third of my kids were filing off my bus and getting on the bus behind me. No sooner were they off my bus, than all the kids from the bus in front of me were filing on to my bus in an orderly fashion taking the places left vacant by the kids who had just left.  The bus behind me then left for Levan and I followed. Behind me I saw a state trooper arrive. The first veteran driver had called on her cell phone in case there was a need for traffic control. I also heard that a tow truck was on the way to pick up the driver and the bus.

In town I now had to drop off kids from two different routes, neither of which I knew. A high school student, sensing my dilemma, came up and guided me to each stop. After the last student got off I sat amazed at how smoothly the whole situation had been resolved. The first driver sensed there was going to be trouble and prepared for it by having me follow her. The third driver, when she heard our chatter on the radio, knew that there was going to be a transfer of students and that my bus would be overcrowded. She stopped without being directed to and took the students that were closest to her route. What could have been a very disruptive situation was kept a minor incident by the professionalism of these ladies. As a rookie, I can only dream of playing like the veterans one day.