The Fall Of Rome

I'm still alive.

I have decided that it is a battle of wills, and they will lose. In fact, today I was asked if I was gonna be the driver for the rest of the year. When I replied in the affirmative, another kid said he didn't think I'd make it. But he's not one of my headaches.

Several of my worst headaches are in "The Cooler", as Col. Klink would say. They are dealing with alternative transportation until January.

I'm making progress. Today at the end of the route, some of the better behaved (read: Roman) kids went thru the bus and put my windows up. And when I asked the last kid to get off if things seemed better than when she started riding, she said, "Yes, lots better."

Last week, two of my Visigoths were cooling a fight between two of the other Visigoths, instead of joining in. They kept it from coming to blows. Shocked the hell outta me.

I've figured out that most of the problems are from one group of Visigoths agitating another. So I've revised the route so that the two are in proximity for the minimum amount of time possible, and things are a lot better. Some of the Roman kids actually have been asking me if I'm gonna run the route the new way "to get the bad kids off quicker". Seems the least I can do for them and my nerves.

I have been referring to them as "heathens" at the garage, but after some reflection, I've decided that "Visigoths" is more accurate. In short, the Visigoths were barbaric tribes that brought about the final downfall of the Roman Empire. That knowledge coupled with the statement that "the children are our future", led me to the choice of that term.

If these children are our future, as they say in ebonics, "We be fucked..."