almost a bus driver
Application. Check.
Driver-test. Check.
Interview. Check.
Medical. Check.
License classification. Check.
Employee onboarding. Check. (Well, nearly).
After months of monitoring my personal support with AccessTheStory (and months of it remaining frustratingly just above the threshold required for me to remain fulltime), I think, 'Why not? Driving a bus part-time as well as doing ministry stuff might be kinda fun!'
And there are a bunch of reasons this could be good.
- Good for my mental health to try something new.
- Good for the opportunity of meeting some new people.
- Good for extending my skillset as a guy in his early 50s.
- And good because it was something that might attach my income to effort (the more shifts you take the more you get paid - in theory, anyway!) -- anyone 'working' in the ministry sector might appreciate the tangible allure of 'work harder, get more'!
So, I apply, go through the process, and after receiving a contract for casual employment on a Monday, and notifying the ATS board I'm planning to shift to part-time - two days later the 'day of dread' hits me.
As I look back, I'm sure it wasn't just fear of change - as I am in the process of filling in the forms and clearing my schedule for 5 weeks of orientation and training - on a Wednesday in April (just before the AFL gather round) I am struck with an overwhelming sense this is not the right choice for me at this particular moment.
So Thursday morning I withdraw my application, email the board to retract my notice (a little embarrassed!), and the dread recedes. A day of peace, but still wondering what the next step might be - and a little grief over the whole 'income attached to effort' mirage.
That same night I receive a text from a local church leader wanting to meet the following day.
I still think driving buses would be awesome, but tomorrow's meeting disrupts the romantic notion of sitting behind a large steering wheel.
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