no one knows what goes on behind closed doors…

Oct 4, 2013

If you know me, you know I used to drive a school bus. A great source of added income for a parent or even as a second job — approximately $30k gross for working 280 hours a year (least that’s about what it was when I quit doing it) — and you have summers and weekends off. Back in the day, I always tried to greet every single student with a smile and a “good morning.” Many parents work and oftentimes I was the first human they would see to begin their day.

Mom was a bus driver before me and preached this philosophy like it was in her job description. Heck, she got up every morning to fix her hair and put on make-up… all in the spirit of trying to provide a positive “first impression of the day” influence to those about to be educated. Even though I was lucky to throw on a pair of sweatpants at 7:00 AM, I did smile, and throughout those years I purchased winter coats and spoke with teachers and called CPS when faced with obvious situations of neglect.

Sometimes though, it’s hard to remember that many people, (children included), appear pretty darned normal on the outside when they just might be struggling with unbelievable hardships behind closed doors. Isn’t that reason enough to simply be nice in our personal interactions with others?

This morning on Facebook I saw a mugshot. About my age, the dude charged with a horrific crime is someone I know — and he’s the father of someone I hauled to school for several years. Seeing it made me feel physically ill.

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PLEASE NOTE: I am in no way saying that this guy did anything illegal with his son (albeit there might have been charges at one point — everyone is innocent until proven guilty), or even that he’s guilty of this sick, SICK charge. I’m only saying that no one knows what goes on behind closed doors — and we should ALL try to be a little nicer to everyone we encounter.

Be kind; everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.
–JOHN WATSON