Chasing the Bus

Have you ever been driving when all of a sudden someone comes racing down the sidewalk?  The runner is moving faster than you are at this point because the light just changed and traffic has yet to do much. As you roll forward you wonder, "What are they running from, to, for?"  And then you see it; the bus just up ahead.  And you realize the runner is chasing the bus.

I cheer them on in my head, hoping that they will get to that ride they desperately need in time.  And why am I talking about strangers and buses?  Because I think that where I work we are all just a bunch of pedestrians chasing after buses.  The song "The Wheels on the Bus" always made buses sound so cheerful, so relaxed.  The "round and round" never seemed to be going 40 miles per hour.  Well, the wheels on our buses (past trauma, busy caseworkers, misguided caregivers, red tape, data bases, paperwork, Medicaid audits...) aren't going "round and round".  They are screaming through without hesitation and with stops so brief we can never quite catch up.

Sometimes I catch one of those runners in a moment when they realize that the bus is too far ahead and they are not going to catch it.  Some of them curse the air and make angry faces.  Others shrug their shoulders and take advantage of some extra time to relax while waiting for the next bus.  I am generally the latter at work.  I am able to recognize when the bus has gotten too far ahead and I usually try to take that moment to remember what it is I am really chasing after to begin with.  Today was one of those days.  I got to work at 7:30 this morning so that I could meet my new overnight worker before she went up to meet with HR.  I prepared for all of the meetings and trainings that then took up four hours of my day.  I chatted with people as I passed by because when they asked if I got their email, all I could say is I haven't been at my desk in four hours.  And that doesn't count the paperwork I was already behind on.  I was chasing that bus something fierce.  And then I had that realization that the bus was too far out of reach today.

I stopped chasing it.  I walked myself down to the gym where the kids and staff from my two cottages were participating in the first in a series of "Fun with Faith" groups centered around how to use music and movement to express feelings.  The two music artists running the group had the kids walking in goofy ways and though things were silly, they were under control.  Then I stood back and watched this amazing group of kids and staff listen to different types of music and move freely around the room in whatever way the music told them to.  It was really something to watch.  I couldn't keep myself from moving just a little as I stood off to the side. Following this joyful exercise, they kids circled up (and they did so the first time they were asked even though they had just been actively moving about the room) and listened to the artists play live music.  One child commented on how small one of the guitars was.  Well, it was only small because it was a violin, but that didn't matter.  Some of the kids stared in amazement as they played.  Others, and many staff members, moved along with the music.  At the end, one of our youngest girls asked "Can you teach me to sing that good?"  It was damn near magical!

And just to think...I could have kept chasing after that roaring bus today.  But I didn't.  And it was then when I remembered what I am really chasing after.