Friday, May 29, 2009

It's My Turn Next

For whatever reason, we seem to have an overabundance of bus drivers for the wee ones. Granted, the preschool increases enrollment throughout the course of the year, requiring more kids on each bus and eventualy the splitting of routes. Still, we seem to go through more drivers than I'd expect.

I've gotten used to it though, and luckily, most of them have been pretty decent.

Today I got Little Miss off the bus, and she had yet another new bus driver (the fourth of the year -- and I was totally ok with it, as I wasn't a fan of the previous driver).

As I looked at her, something about her looked familiar.

Me: You look vaguely familiar. Do I know you from somewhere?
Bus Driver: Today's my first day driving. I don't think so.
Me: Huh. (At which point, I proceed to unbuckle Little Miss from her carseat and remove her from the bus although technically no one but the bus driver and students are supposed to be on the bus)
Bus Driver: By the way, my name is Barbara.
Me: Looking up at her sharply. It has crystallized. Uhhhh, did you by chance ever work at (name of my current company)?
Bus Driver: Looking oddly at me. Yesssss, why?
Me: OMG, Barbara! I'm Michelle (insert last name here)!
Bus Driver: OMG! What a small world! I was laid off awhile ago, and this was the only job I could find. The economy bites.
Me: No kidding. I'm just waiting until the axe falls on me. Yikes! I'll uhhh see you tomorrow.

Yeah, that wasn't totally awkward. Awkward wasn't my point though.

Wow. Barbara (and no, not her real name) was one of our tech support people. In fact, she was one of two tech support people I preferred to deal with when my computer had issues, as she actually knew what she was doing. She'd been with the company for YEARS. Way longer than me. She's got skills. Education. Experience. And (nothing against bus drivers) driving a school bus part time was the only job she could find. Wow.

As if you needed more proof that the economy is in the toilet.

10 comments:

Unknown May 29, 2009 at 10:00 PM  

Scary stuff, waiting for the ax to drop. GM is to file bankruptcy next week, should be interesting stuff around here.

p.s. thanks for your kind words.

Roxane May 30, 2009 at 9:10 PM  

Yup, I had a great job doing marketing for 2 years and when the economy (and my immigration papers) took a turn for the worst I got the axe. The good news is, its been a year and i'm doing ok. That being said, I hope you dont get the axe.

WeaselMomma May 31, 2009 at 7:25 AM  

What also sucks is that when making layoffs, too many companies get rid of the real talent and keep the hacks that have no idea what they are doing.

septembermom May 31, 2009 at 7:32 AM  

When my husband was laid off, he was close to applying for a bus driving job. Times are so tough. I pray it gets better.

Aunt Julie May 31, 2009 at 6:22 PM  

And sounds like your Wee Ones are lucky to have her. I know so many people these days who are working jobs several steps below their resumes. But the way I look at it, we should all be happy to be earning a paycheck, right?

Ryan Ashley Scott May 31, 2009 at 8:26 PM  

That does suck, but at least she found a job. Not that it compares to what she WAS doing, though, since it's not really in her "field."

Michelle May 31, 2009 at 10:21 PM  

Megryansmom - Yep, definitely scary stuff. But at the same time, I'd kind of be ok with it. I'd enjoy (now) being a SAHM, but I can't justify quitting with this economy.

Roxane - Yeah, marketing is definitely one of the first areas to go. My company cut so far back there starting almost two years ago now... but there is always a window, right?

Weaselmomma - Ohhh, don't get me started. We've had several rounds of layoffs already, and I shake my head every time.

septembermom - I'm right there with you. I just don't see it happening anytime soon, especially not with the unintended consequences of all the governmental intervention.

Veggie Mom - That's definitely the right attitude, and I'm deinitely glad to see that she is our bus driver, although I only hope that she's happy with it, too.

RAS - No, tech and bus driving are ummm not exactly parallel. But yeah -- at least there is SOMEthing out there.

Cookie May 31, 2009 at 10:54 PM  

Yikes! At least you know that your kid's bus is in good hands.

Melisa Wells June 1, 2009 at 4:46 PM  

That's upsetting to me. I'm going to read your happy post again.

Michelle June 1, 2009 at 8:40 PM  

Cookie - True. There are really some ... questionable drivers out there from stories I've heard!

Melisa - I know, sorry! But hey, go read the TRU one again, and you'll be really happy!

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