This was drawn for the Fredericksburg Advance.
The city schools are having some transportation issues, and we’re not talking about school board members renting cars and flying to Hawaii.
The Advance wrote this to go with today’s cartoon:
Technology isn’t always the answer. Just ask Fredericksburg City Schools, which, according to Adele Uphaus’ story ("We Discovered it's Not Getting Better:" City Schools Trying to Get a Handle on Transportation Situation) is the reason the city schools have struggled to pick up and deliver students to school at the start of the year. “[The] problems are being caused by the division transitioning from paper-and-pencil routing to a new routing technology; opening two new schools; and onboarding new transportation staff while also dealing with a shortage of drivers,” Uphaus reported. Clay Jones thinks he has an answer to the division’s bus woes.
Children are being screamed at by drivers, drivers are forgetting to pick up some kids, and there’s a new app that tells parents when their kids were dropped off, but the app lies. Basically, the entire Fredericksburg bus system is worse than Uber.
Ever order an Uber or a Lyft and the driver arrives two blocks away, and you have to walk to your ride? And the drivers never come to you when that happens. Sometimes, they’ll drive right past you to make you walk farther.
I hope the bus drivers are smarter than Uber drivers and the people who deliver groceries.
If bus drivers are as dumb as my grocery delivery people, then they’d be dropping kids off at the right address number, but on a different street…and just leave the kid there. Congratulations! It’s a boy!
My mother was a bus driver when we lived in Georgia, and one time, she dropped a kid off miles and miles from his home. It was as if she were trying to lose the kid forever, and never to be seen again. Granted, that kid was me, but still…
Corrections: Please email all typos, boo-boos, and any other mistakes to clayjonz@gmail.com. If you put it in the comments, I may not see it until hours or days later. Thanks.
Creative note: I wish I had a bit more time for this one, and I would have thrown in a few, or a lot, more Easter eggs. Heck, I might have even drawn it better, too.I like tossing in local references in my cartoons for the Advance. This one has a church steeple, which there are quite a few of downtown, and even two on my street, with one being directly across from my apartment. I never go to them. The gray building is an office building downtown, locally referred to as “The Big Ugly.” It’s ugly. Then there’s the Purina tower.
Music note: I listened to Angels and Airwaves.
Drawn in 30 seconds:
Timelapse:
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I drove a school bus for several years back in the early '80s in a rural, mountainous county in Virginia and I can honestly say I never dropped a kid off in the wrong place! Oh yeah ... I drove the handicapped bus and all the kids were in wheelchairs and their parents met the bus each day, so that may have helped.
Yep, you made me google the Purina Tower bldg, and it's good to see the orange nazi on the ugly bldg, but I also got a chuckle out of the school district's name on the bus...fun toon and blog.