By Andrea Fernandes
Associate Editor
Duane Broadwell, the weekend bus driver, has experienced quite a bit during his time driving what students refer to as “the drunk bus.”
For the past seven weeks, Broadwell has spent his Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights driving the bus that transports students between campus and town. He drives from on-campus dorms, to Gardens and to Townhouses to pick up students who are almost always on a mission to get to town, to go to house parties or the bars.
After a long week filled with classes, endless homework and studying, Broadwell witnesses the much more social side of students that comes with being intoxicated.
“I’ve had girls come on the bus and ask me for relationship advice,” said Broadwell. “Sometimes they’ll tell me that a guy is asking them to go back to his room, and they’ll ask me what they should do.”
Broadwell said he has daughters who are around the age of the girls who get on the bus, and his responses to the questions asked are responses he’d give to his daughters.
“If I can help in any way, I do,” said Broadwell. “I tell the girls to go to their own rooms and make decisions when they’re sober again.”
When Broadwell isn’t giving life tips to the girls, he talks sports with the guys.
“Some of the guys come on the bus and they notice my Buffalo Bills hat,” said Broadwell. “Then we start talking about football and other sports until I drop them off.”
Broadwell admits that chats with the students, bus chants and helping students make good decisions make his job more entertaining and rewarding.
He added that the extreme excitement of the students doesn’t bother him, because he is a loud person, too.
“I try to play music that the students will like, but when students get way too loud, I turn it down,” said Broadwell.
He suggests that if students want the music to stay on, they can’t get too rowdy. But he doesn’t mind students being loud if they’re singing along to the songs he’s playing.
According to Broadwell, working the weekend shift has its perks. He says that he was once young too, and since he has kids of his own, he can relate to many of the students he interacts with. But there are some downsides to his job.
“The worst part of the weekend is when someone throws up on the bus,” said Broadwell. “It’s awful to have to sit through the smell of someone’s puke, and it’s awful to have to clean it.”
In the past seven weeks, it has always been a girl who gets sick on the bus, said Broadwell. He encourages students to know their limits when it comes to how much they drink.
“Having a good time doesn’t mean you have to get so intoxicated to the point where you don’t remember anything at all the next day,” said Broadwell.
Students should also know that no alcoholic beverages are allowed on the bus, said Broadwell, since he often sees empty beer cans on the bus at the end of the night.
When he isn’t driving the bus on the weekends, he keeps himself busy with his kids or engaging in recreational activities. Broadwell is originally from Oswego and now resides in Friendship. He enjoys hunting, fishing, riding motorcycles and bowling. He also likes to spend time with his girlfriend, which he isn’t able to do much on the weekends since it’s filled with transporting and advising students.
Although working on the weekends takes away from him being able to spend time with family, Broadwell is dedicated to ensuring that students have a way to get to where they need to go.
“I just want to get students back to campus safe and sound after they have a night out,” said Broadwell.
Students should keep in mind that the bus drivers can accept tips.
fernanal13@bonaventure.edu
