THIS BUS HAS BEEN CHECKED FOR SLEEPING CHILDREN

A few years ago there was a big story in the news about a lost child. It turned out she fell asleep on the school bus and the driver never saw her. The kid woke up hours later in the back of a school bus, in the dark, in front of the driver's house. Then other stories came out of the woodwork and it seemed like this was happening more often than people knew. (To be honest, it may have been a boy, not a girl...I really have no idea, but the point is still valid.)

To combat this problem of bus driver laziness, a policy was instituted: The driver must, at the end of his/her shift, walk to the back of the bus and place a sign on the rear window that reads: "This Bus Has Been Checked For Sleeping Children." Then, in the morning, the driver is supposed to walk to the back of the bus, get the sign and bring it back to the front of the bus.

Whenever I see this sign on a bus, I take a look inside. If there are kids inside, I immediately get on my cell phone and call the bus company. The first time I did thsi, the operater laughed it off: "Haha, oh he probably just forgot..." I angrily protested that that defeats the entire point of the sign.

Personally, when I see the sign on a full bus, I take it as a personal insult. Like the driver is taunting me by showing me two conflicting pieces of information and daring me to say something about it. I've called bus companies 3 or 4 times so far, but this mornings' sighting is the first since I started blogging, so you get to hear all about it.

I saw the sign, saw the kids, saw the phone number on the bus, saw the bus number and called. I had to leave a message, but I made sure I left a strong one, ending it with, "God help you if you ever leave my kid asleep on your bus."

Anyway, I strongly urge all of you to call the bus companies that have this problem whenever you see it. They will want to know the number or license plate of the bus, and where the bus is (i.e. Bus #4322, on Sunrise Highway in Babylon, heading West). I know several parents get involved after their kid has been affected, but dammit, I want to get involved BEFORE my kid is affected and try to make sure it never happens. Please help.