Driving a bus, (almost) anyone can do it.

Getting to my terminus stop, I step outside the bus to stretch my legs a bit. Hearing a horn sound, I look up just in time to witness a BMW SUV cut off another car in order to get into the turning lane. As she turns, I wince as the back end bounces over the curb and comes within a coat of paint of grazing the lamp stand. Fascinated, I continue watching this woman as she attempts to parallel park. She sets up so incredibly improperly that it looked as though she were trying to back straight into the curb. Well lo and behold, that's actually what she did but she didn't stop there, she kept reversing until both rear tires were resting on the curb. She pulled forward and cranks the wheel hard and tries again. This time she was more parallel rather than perpendicular but it still wasn't enough as she backed over the curb again (only with one wheel though). At this point I checked my watch. 10:37. At 10:44 she finally manages to "park" the SUV. Now when I say park, I mean the car was mostly parallel with the curb and only about a metre and a half away. 


The woman looks up, sees me and walks over. "Excuse me. Do you like being a bus driver?" she asked. "Yeah, I love it." I reply. "That's good to hear. I was thinking about being one because I like driving a lot. Since they seem to hire quite a few females, I figure I have a good chance. What kind of qualifications do they want?" she asked. I'm afraid at this point in the conversation my jaw dropped. Well for starters the ability to drive would be useful. "How old are you?" I asked. "Twenty" she said. Damn, I was hoping she was too young to be qualified. "Do you have a full license?" I asked. "No, I go for my test in another year" she replied. "Sorry, but you'll need to have a full license before you even apply and it is a six to twelve month hiring process. They do a very thorough back ground check." I told her. "Really? That sucks. I was hoping to have a job by next week." She said. "Why don't you try the mall, I'm sure there are lots of stores willing to hire you by next week" I said. "Oh, okay. I never even thought of that. Thanks." She said.