The first flashing, red and yellow lights bit through the dense fog at 5:07 a.m., shortly followed by the waking of a diesel engine. An hour later, bus driver Dickie Green and his helper Becky make their way down the aisles of busses to number 176.
They proceed down their checklist, making sure the wheelchair lift works, checking the safety seats for the smaller children and putting the stray stuffed animals into the cardboard box at the back of the bus.
Seven years ago, Green, or Mr. Dickie as the kids call him, retired from work so he could drive a school bus. Green worked several good jobs before driving; jobs that he loved, but he doesn’t miss them. He doesn’t drive to make money, he said, he does it for the kids.
“I’ve never had a job that ends my day with smiles and laughs, like this one does,” Green said. “It makes you feel good inside.”
Green loves the kids he works with and ever since his nephew was born autistic, he has felt a need to help kids just like him.
“If I had one wish,” Green said. “it would be that these kids didn’t have to go through what they go through every day.”
The team picks up their routine kids and drops them off at various schools and daycare centers along the route. At every stop, Green climbs off of the bus to help them down the steps and walk them inside, after telling each one that he’ll see them tomorrow and to “have a good day.”
Along the playground fence at a daycare, small toddlers waddle to the railing, attempting to squeeze through the bars to get a better look at the big yellow bus. Seeing the excitement of the kids makes Green love coming to work every day. The corners of Green’s mouth turns up into a grin and he heads for the playground, making his way down the railing and high-fiving every child who came to see him.
“They’re all such great kids,” Green said. “They just want to know you care.”
Everything Green and his partner do gears toward making the kids feel safe and welcome. They make sure that every stop they make falls at exactly the time the bus schedule says they will arrive; if they arrive early, Green simply brings the bus to a stop around the corner and waits. He wants to make the routine as regular for these kids as possible.
“I’m here to make their day easier in any way I can,” Green said. “That’s my job.”
