Retired senior executive finds joy driving a school bus

WHAT WAS THE HARDEST PART OF LEARNING TO DRIVE A SCHOOL BUS? Backing up. It took me forever to learn how to back up that bloody bus. That’s scary. One of the things you have to be able to do

is alley docking — you need to back the bus up and then turn to the left, turn to the right and back it right into a parking spot. I just thought, looking at that 40-foot bus, 10 feet wide

and 12 feet high, there’s no way on God’s green earth I’m ever going to be able to do this. And I did. WHAT ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT QUALIFICATIONS FOR A DRIVER? You have to like kids. If you

don’t like kids, find something else to do, because that’s key. And then, patience. And being able to put up with noise, because there’s definitely going to be noise. HOW DO YOU KEEP THINGS

UNDER CONTROL? There’s a lot of yelling “knock it off.” There’s literally stopping the bus and giving them an icy glare in the mirror, which works probably better than anything else.

Sometimes I’ve had to actually return to school. I just tell them, “OK, we’re going back. You don’t seem to know how to behave today, so we’re going back and have the principal talk to you.”

That, to me, is a defeat. I’d rather be able to take care of it myself. One of the first things that I try to do at the beginning of the year is to learn all their names. Now, remember,

there are 50 kids on the bus. But the quicker you learn their names, the better in control you’ll be, because if you look at them and yell out “Robert!” that has more of an effect than “Hey

you, sit down.” HOW DOES THE RIDE VARY WITH AGE GROUPS? The high school kids are pretty quiet. The middle school kids are sometimes quite naughty and always very interesting. And the

elementary kids are cute as a button. I’m getting pictures from them; I get hugs from them. Today one of them gave me a lollipop — thought I needed a lollipop! I’m known as Miss Dorcas, and

I just love it. WHAT DO CARING FOR OLDER ADULTS AND DRIVING A BUS HAVE IN COMMON? The people skills, people management skills. Basically how a senior citizen wants to be treated is how a kid

wants to be treated. They also want respect. They want to be heard. They also want to be counted. I want to make sure they know I see them, I know them and I respect them. ​ _Susan Moeller

is a contributing writer who covers lifestyle, health, finance and human-interest topics. A former newspaper reporter and editor, she also writes features and essays for the _Boston Globe

Magazine_ and her local NPR station, among other outlets._