188: Jo Schwendt

School Bus Driver

Well, we all know what school bus drivers normally do, right? They pick up and drop off the kids. Well during the pandemic, it got a bit more tricky than that. 

Jo has been driving a school bus for 16 years. The only thing she can relate this to is when 9/11 happened. The shock and sudden change of it all. This past year she found herself constantly uncertain of when she might be working because of schools opening and closing. Then changing schedules, hybrid, schedule A, schedule B, etc. Nothing was routine about it. Additionally, she and all the children had to wear masks. She said the elementary age children were especially OK with it. They handled it well. Remember there’s no air conditioning on those hot buses. 

 Cleaning was something else that was new to her position. After each run, the interior of the entire bus had to be sprayed and wiped down.

But one of the most difficult things Jo and her bus driving colleagues had to deal with was filling in for any driver that was exposed to the virus, because they would be quarantined for two weeks. So, they had teachers and mechanics filling in. Even drivers that had been retired for four or five years came back to help out.

 She said, “I didn’t realize how social I was, until I couldn’t be social anymore.” “I appreciate things more than I did before the pandemic.” She also said that her wish for the future is, “That my grandchildren never have to go through this.”