A bus driver is a person who smiles in the morning and smiles in the evening and eats Rolaids in between.

A bus driver gets there when nobody else can; she finds houses which don't exist and children with no names.

She dries tears, dispels fears and finds lost notebooks.

A school bus driver has eyes in the back of her head and hears every word that is said, even in sign language.

She separates the meek from the mighty, the timid from the bold, gives reassuring nods to anxious "mamas" standing at the end of their lanes.

A bus driver is the epitome of patience and perfection of skills; she also has a good understanding of human nature and Mother Nature.

A bus driver leaves before daylight and returns after dark (in the wintertime) and communes with the elements. She has a grudging friendship with the glaring sun, the beating rain and driving snow. And she knows all about dust and the geological formation of gravel.

She is immune to noise.

A bus driver's favorite words (besides "Good Morning" and "Good Night") are "Sit down."

Her favorite color is yellow.

A bus driver's worst apprehension involves five-year-olds with motion sickness - especially in the winter when the windows are closed and the heater is on.

A bus driver knows all the school songs and pep cheers. Her vocabulary is always up-to-date.

To be a school bus driver, a person must be able to memorize the number of the bus garage and the superintendent's number.

She can read maps.

Sometimes a bus driver gets tired - but seldom mad; and always, most faithfully, she gets there.

Many people set their clocks by a bus driver's schedule; many mothers set out for a second cup of coffee.

A bus driver sits at the helm of a six to seven ton $ 100,000 machine loaded with 9 to 97 units of the most precious cargo on God's green earth - our children.