When the weeds around one elementary school bus stop grew out of control, one bus driver took it upon himself to sort it out.
Since the above image was taken of one Texas bus driver mowing the grass around the stop, his story has gone viral.
Copperas Cove school bus driver Jerry Martin Jr. is the bus driver in question.
The veteran bus driver didn’t seem too keen on waiting for nearby homeowners by one of his pickup points to clear the weeds and long grass for the children.
So, one day after his shift had ended at the end of the week, Martin took himself home, got his lawnmower, and went along to the offending stop on his route and personally cut the grass for the small children.
Mr. Martin claims that the grass was up the waists of some of the kids.
Mr. Martin has been a driver on the route for over 18 years, and even told KWTX that this is far from the first time he has had to take matters into his own hands:
“Oh, I’ve done it several times, but this time someone just took a picture. It was about knee high and I’m 6 feet tall.”
The picture was taken by a member of the school district and uploaded to their Facebook Page.
The image has sine gone viral across social media and new outlets everywhere.
Alongside the picture, the district’s page wrote, “CCISD bus driver Jerry Martin cut the grass at one of his bus stops so the students don’t have to stand in the weeds while waiting for the bus. The home is vacant and the yard is not being maintained. Three cheers for Mr. Martin!”
Mr. Martin said that he was worried about the small children being bitten by things in the weeds
He told KWTX:
“I mowed that lawn because my kids have to stand there, and tall grass attracts chiggers, so I didn’t want my kids having to stand in it and get chigger bites”.
Chiggers are small mite-like creatures which can leave nasty bites.
Chiggers can be barely visible due to their small size; however, they can cause unpleasant bites and keep eating away at the skin for several days. Ultimately the bites are pronounced, itchy, and can appear like blisters.
Mr. Martin hoped to share a positive message of community spirit when the picture was taken.
Mr. Martin also wanted to change what he saw as a negative portrayal of bus drivers in the media.
“[I thought] maybe we could show something positive that bus drivers are doing instead of always the negativity that you see in the media.”
People were quick to praise Mr. Martin for his wonderful act of kindness.
There were many calls for others to learn from Mr. Martin’s amazing act of selfless community spirit, and take a little time in all of our lives to make the world a better place for someone else.
Many previous students also shared their fond memories of Mr. Martin.
Testimonials from previous students came in the forms of:
“He was my bus driver way back when. He truly is an amazing person. Thank you, Mr. Martin!”
“Mr. Martin my bus driver back in the day!! He’s such a great guy and definitely made a positive impact on my life at such a young age.”
And, “Mr. Martin was my elementary bus driver and he would always have fresh fruit for us to take home and was my favorite bus driver ever. I’m so happy he’s still shedding some positive lights on students today!”
This is not the only time that a bus driver has hit headlines for such positive reasons in recent months.
Earlier this month, Wisconsin bus driver Isabel Lane hit headlines after the above image was released of her holding the hand of a young child who was scared on his first day of school.
This image was widely shared, and Ms. Lane wonderfully explained the photo as such to WEAU , “I think it kind of goes for anyone if you see someone who may be struggling just to do something as simple as reaching out a hand and showing that you are there.
“You don’t have to say anything but just to show someone you are there makes a big difference in someone’s day.”
Hopefully, by sharing stories such as these, we can inspire people to do more good in their community.
At a time when the media is so full of division, anger, and a seemingly unending sense of doom, stories such as these serve to remind us that there are people out there doing good things for others. No matter how small a difference you are making, if it helps someone else, then it is worth doing.
h/t: KWTX
