Unsung Heroes of the Predawn Light

We are the unsung heroes of the predawn light. No we may never have fought in a great war, or saved a soul from the snapping jaws of death. People wave to us, but few know who we are and most on a good days run could care less. Like the organ grinder's monkey from days of old, we have been repeatedly trained to do a task. We do a job few would even consider doing and most would not even attempt to try. A job burdened with ever growing responsibility due to the minutia of a ever expanding bureaucracy. A grossly undervalued, underappreciated profession designated part-time by thoughtless administrations that mouth how important we all are once a year only to persecute us for every trifling thing later. If you are lucky enough to survive a number of years without resigning or becoming a sacrificial lamb on the altar of a fearful self serving public face, you will get a tiny pension for your devoted service. We are the unsung heroes of the predawn light. The tolerant souls that routinely put up with a few rude demanding manipulative parents and their insolent misbehaving little darlings just to be able to serve the greater majority of decent well meaning thoughtful parents and the precious treasures of tomorrow they have temporarily entrusted to us. Like a hamster running on a little wheel, we go around in circles every single day, but unlike the hamster we must summon every instinct and learned skill to insure every turn we make is executed flawlessly. We are kept aloft on our spinning wheel by the deliberate hands of a caring heart and the many small souls seated behind us that come to trust us not to make a mistake. We are the one person in their little lives that are not allowed to ever let them down for neither of us may be able to live with it. We are their school bus drivers...