BU Bus Experience

    

Group of Pedestrians huddled up under a bus stop on a snowy day

           As you stand in the cold in the -12 degree wind chill weather waiting in line with you're fellow college students. You think to myself,"When is our savior filled with warmth arriving." You glance up the road every five minutes because if you look that direction your face is blistered from the chilling wind. Then at last you see the white glowing savior shimmering with beauty, with rocks salt stains on it sides thundering down the snow filled campus road heading straight towards the bus stop. You look at the corner of your eye seeing students unloading out of the bus each one of them bundled up head to toe to endure the winter cold. As you walk in a line to get on the bus you feel a sense of excitement to be able to get out of the bone chilling cold. As you take a step on to the bus, you see the smiling face of the pilot of our white savior, the BU driver.
          The BU bus drivers are hard working and dedicated workers here on the Bloomsburg campus. Everyday they sit on the same bus(es), driving the same route, stationed in the same spot driving in a endless loop loading and unloading college students for about 6-8 hours of their day. They are often taking for granted because they are sacrificing their time to be transportation for us college students  to be taken to point A to point B on a daily basis.
          "A bus driver has lot more responsibility than people understand, while I drive here (Bloomsburg University) I drive a lot older kids so it's not much of an issue, but especially driving high school students it is a lot more responsibility."

Mickey driving through upper campus

         Mickey, a middle aged man, dressed in a red Ohio State jacket, blue jeans, and brown boots. Has been working with buses and driving buses for over 30 years, Originally from Ohio he now lives outside of Bloomsburg with his family and has been driving for Bloomsburg University for about a year and a half now. A graduate of Bloomsburg University, Mickey always listens in on the whatever game is happening that day but if he isn't listening to the Huskies playing on the radio than you better expect to hear a Ohio State game going on in the speakers of the bus. "When I was a kid me and my dad use to go to the Ohio State games every weekend." As Mickey reminisces about his past
         Mickey has been driving the bus every weekend 8 hours of the day for a year now, driving the same route in a small bus that looks like a combination of a bus and a mini van. Something you would ride in if you are renting out a party bus for a night. "Its a job." Mickey says while driving through upper campus of Bloomsburg. "You listen to your music and talk to the students when they come on and off the bus so it is usually enough to keep you distracted."

         "How did you get into being a bus driver?" I asked 

         "I was retiring and  I needed to find something that would give me benefits." Mickey answered. 

         "Is that why most bus drivers become bus drivers?"I asked and Mickey answers saying, "Yes most bus drivers are retired people."

         "Do you enjoy working as a BU Bus driver" I asked.  

         "Yeah!" Mickey says happily

       A normal day of work for Mickey is to start his bus to let it warm up, while the bus is warming up Mickey checks his fluids, meter, and etc, to make sure everything is good to go with the bus. Than he sits in the drivers seat pushing the buttons on the radio skimming through station from station looking for something good to listen to on the radio. After he finds a radio station that's worth listening to, he takes a sip of coffee out his coffee mug and begins his schedule for the day.(Schedule is the route the bus driver takes to pick up and drop off students at a certain time.) He drives his schedule until lunch approaches, for lunch he parks his bus where all the buses go to when it needs a refuel for gas where than he eats his pre made lunch he brought from home, after his lunch he continues his schedule. For the rest of his schedule, he listens and sings along to whatever song on the radio usually music from the 1960's-1980's, and having small talk with the students on the bus. At the end of his schedule, Mickey makes his last round trip, ending at the bus stop near Centennial Hall than parks his bus where the rest of the BU buses rest at. "Easy as that." Mickey would say at the end of the day.

Students waiting at the bus stop near Centennial hall

       Many students on campus who take the bus often appreciate Mickeys services as a bus driver. Alosha Fox, A Sophomore at Bloomsburg University wearing a blue under shirt with a heavy winter jacket waiting patiently at the bus stop, now living at Mount Olympus Apartments has been taking the shuttle to upper campus for about almost a year now.
       "Mickey at first glance you can tell he enjoys his job because he always has a smile on his face" says Alosha. "When he doesn't have a smile on his face he is either talking to one of the students on the bus asking them about there day, telling them a story of his past, or he is listening to one of the college games on the radio and making his small comments on a play like "Come on!" usually a comment Mickey would make while listening to the college game on the radio." Alosha is a frequent bus rider when it comes to getting around campus. "Mickey is one of my favorite bus drivers because the rest of the bus drivers on campus do not drop off students at the Rec Center. But Mickey always ask the students on the bus "Anyone needs to be dropped off here." while in front of the Rec Center."
      Bus drivers like Mickey are the working staff at Bloomsburg university are the kind of staff we need more of at Bloomsburg. Someone who enjoys their time at work and loves their job and the people they deal with on a daily basis. "Bloomsburg is my alumni and I am happy to be able to drive the students of the school whenever I do. No matter what the weather is like I am happy to drive the students to wear they need to go rather than them walking." So next time you take the bus to upper campus to get some food at Monty's or your rushing out your apartment to make it to your class in time and you flag down the bus to signal it to stop and the bus does. Just make sure you when you get into the bus to greet the bus driver with a smiling face and say "Thanks!"