Everything you wanted to know about...

field trips but were afraid to ask.

Among Dallas County Schools bus drivers, the only things more highly prized than out-of-court felony settlements are field trips. They are a great way to earn big bucks while sitting on your big butt.

Some trips are highly sought after, some not so. Most attractive are the 9 AM to 2:30 PM trips. If you have one of those, you eliminate the costly trip home after your normal morning bus run, plus you earn an easy 5-6 hours of pay. The trip to be avoided is the two-hour high school swim practice at a local natatorium...too much trouble for the small payoff.

DCS assigns trips this way. You show up at your bus lot at 5:30 on Wednesday morning to bid on trips for the following week. At exactly 5:30, an administrator starts calling names of drivers, beginning with the most tenured driver and proceding down the experience list. When your name is called, you get to sign up for any trip that is still available. The rookies tend to get the swim practice trips.

I'm #13 in seniority at our lot but some of the ones above me don't do trips. So I usually have any trip I want. At 4:30 on Wednesday afternoons, another hour of bidding takes place. Once again, they start with the older folks. On this 2nd go-round, the day trips and Saturday trips are gone...leaving the weeknight trips. I usually opt for whatever Woodrow Wilson High trip that's still on the books. I'm partial to them since that's where I graduated 40 years ago; also, their kids are well-behaved and polite.

So that's the system. I'm not a big fan of Wednesdays since I have to set the alarm for 4:15 those mornings. Seems like I spend the rest of the day looking for time and space to take a nap.

My next installment will be on what I do when I'm sitting on the bus with 4-5 hours to kill (but still making $18/hr.). I know you can't wait.