The Lights on the Bus go Blink-Blink-Blink

Photo: ©byMcKee 2013        

This picture is from my wedding and is a selection of some of the aunts, uncles, cousins, and siblings who could make it.

The guy in the grey sweater at the bottom right side of this picture is my Grampa. He's a pretty cool guy- he has a good sense of humor, a great heart, and is a wonderful story teller. My mom (the one in the lacy dress in the front row), my aunt (mom's sister- the one with the short hair in the second-ish row), and I went to visit him on Monday. When we got to the place he's staying at, he asked right away how married life was going and what's new. I told him about the kids in my class are really cute but very busy! This is what he told me:

He drove a school bus after work and would take kids home from school. He heard that the bus kids were a wild bunch and he quickly found out that was true. So, being the smart guy he is, he came up with a plan to get the kids to be more well behaved. He drove the bus the police station and told the kids that they would be arrested if they didn't shape up. That didn't work out so well- the kids still were pretty crazy and my Grampa knew they couldn't actually be arrested for being wild kids. For a while he wasn't sure what to do until he let one of the kids put the flashers on. Whenever they reached a stop, Grampa had to put the lights on so people would be aware of the kids leaving the bus. The rules were obviously much more relaxed at that time, so he would let a kid or two push the button to turn on the lights. They loved it. He told the kids that whoever did the best job on the bus would get to push the flashers. Of course they all wanted a turn- who wouldn't want to make the flashing lights come on? So the kids settled down and Grampa just went down the list of names to make sure everyone had a turn. He didn't have any (or at least many) problems after that!