Probation

My probation is finished. Complete. 900 driving hours done. This doesn't include on duty time, solely time where my butt was parked in the seat with my hands at ten and two on the steering wheel. I can't even begin to express how utterly relieved and happy I am to have put this probation behind me (I felt as though I were walking on eggshells). For a while, I wasn't even sure if I were going to make it through.



While on probation, the company can fire me for any reason whatsoever and the union has their hands tied; they can't do shit all for you. But once you're finished, it's virtually impossible to get canned. Basically the only way it can be done is if you're caught stealing from the company, lose your license or have too many preventables (I know some people who have had five preventable collisions in less than a year and they're still here). We have a strong union and they'll fight hard for you.



Most drivers fill out about two -three incident reports a year. I've been here since the summer and I've filled out countless reports. My total is ten. Yeah, you read that correctly ten in five months. I'm lucky though, I haven't had any preventable collisions; I just have bad luck - things seem to happen to me.

I've been passed by two trolleys who forgot that you can't pass another trolley and they've knocked my poles off and broken either the pole or the rope. 

I had my poles hit by a semi and had him knock the poles off, and break my rope. The rope ended up wrapped around two sets of overhead wire, forcing all of the trolleys to pull their poles to get past me. 

There was a man who got off my bus, jaywalked across the street and got smoked by a car right in front of my windshield.

I once lost my poles on a turn and had one stuck on a support wire. I don't know if you've ever seen a trolley lose it's poles, they come off with velocity. We ended up having to call the line crew to get the pole off the wire. 

I had a drunk man somersault down the aisle of the bus when I started moving.

I've had a van hit me from behind and knock his mirror off.
I've my mirror hit by a passing truck.
And those are just some of the incidents I've had.

For a while, it seemed that I was in my supervisor's office every other week discussing some incident that I'd had. 
On top of all of that drama, I've missed quite a bit of work. I was sick for a while and then threw my back out again. 

While on probation, you should be showing your best side to the company. You have to prove to them that they were right in hiring you. Looking at my record, I would have canned me a while back. Luckily, I have an amazingly understanding supervisor who realised that underneath all the drama, I am a good employee. I think it also helped that I've had a few accommodations from passengers!



Growing up my idea of what I wanted to do when I grew up changed on an almost daily basis. I'm pretty sure I drove my parents and friend's mad with all of my new harebrained ideas. "I'll just go to this school and get this certificate/degree/diploma and then I'll be set. I'll be happy and rich and successful..." I don't think I've ever met anyone as flighty and indecisive as myself. I was just counting the jobs that I've had since I was sixteen (these don't include baby sitting or paper routes, and those three summers at the same place count as one) and the grand total is 22. Yeah, I've had 22 jobs in nine years. 



I must say though having held job 22 for half a year now, I don't envision myself moving onto number 23 anytime soon. I've never once held a job that I've quite enjoyed so much. I can't believe that I've already accumulated 900 driving hours. It still feels like I've just started here.



Sure, I have bad days, everyone does, the important thing is that I have more good days than bad. I have built remarkable relationships with amazing people and not so remarkable relationships with some not so amazing people. I've had people turn my day around with a kind word and a smile and I've in turn done the same for others. I've seen things that I wished I hadn't (Like the junkie sitting at the bus stop sticking the needle into his vein. I was horrified and yet so transfixed, I couldn't pull my eyes away for the life of me. It was the most fascinatingly, repulsive thing I've ever seen in my entire life. It makes me both thankful that I'm not, nor have I ever been in his situation and at the same time ashamed for the fact that I'm clean, sober, have a good job, a roof over my head and enough to eat. I should be doing more to help them) and I've seen some amazing acts of generosity and kindness (The people who give up their seats for the elderly, the man in the wheelchair who opted to wait for the next bus because I was a few minutes late and he didn't want to make me later). 



Being a bus driver can be an incredibly stressful job, if you let it. There's a joke that most bus drivers only get about six months of their retirement before croaking. Unfortunately it tends to be mostly true. Here we have this high stress job that we work at for so long and then it's over and you retire. Your body starts to relax and all of the years of stress catch up to you. It's a scary thought, I don't want to die young. This is one of the reasons I've started this blog. I just wanted an outlet to vent. I'm overwhelmed that it's been so popular with people, I didn't expect that. I'm getting emails asking when the next entry is, if I haven't written in a while. It's an added bonus because as much as I love driving, I also love writing and being able to share my experiences with others. Be warned though, for me this blog is, first and foremost an outlet to share my emotions whether they be anger, tears, giddiness, frustration, rage, excitement, or happiness. Not every entry will be funny, some will be sad or just plain angry but it's the way I'm feeling and I need to get it out. 

Thank you for reading this and your continual support.