“Thanks,” “Thanks,” “Thank you” . every day, hundreds of Mississippi State University students say these words as they step out of shuttles on any of the university’s five transit routes throughout campus.
For James O’Bryant, 47, a shuttle driver at MSU for the past six years, those kind words are just one way students show their appreciation for the service he and his fellow drivers are happy to provide, but he said he is equally grateful for the students.
“Every last one of them appreciate the ride because of what a person is doing for them all day long, driving the circuit,” he said softly over the loud growl of the shuttle’s diesel engine. “You know, it’s important because without them, I wouldn’t have nothing. I appreciate them, just the way they appreciate me.”
As he drove his shuttle around the same Maroon Route turns he’s seen thousands of times before, O’Bryant said the majority of students are just as courteous and friendly; many are quick to offer a kind word or talk on their ride to class.
“They’ll let you know, they’ll show you, they appreciate you. If they don’t say it that morning, the second time the majority of them will tell you; they’ll thank you,” O’Bryant said.
Leon Shook, 68, a driver on the Orange Route, the busiest circuit at MSU which runs through Fraternity and Sorority Rows, said he was amazed by the reaction he received from students. As the road flashed across his mirrored sunglasses, he said he expected on his first day for passengers to keep to themselves as they went about their business of getting on and off the shuttle, but that wasn’t what happened.
“I had the general opinion that people who ride the bus just get on and off and don’t say anything,” he said. “Of course it didn’t bother me, but the first day I drove . My god, ‘Good morning sir,’ ‘Thank you sir,’ just on and on and on. I just couldn’t believe it.”
Traveling over 100 miles each day, O’Bryant said driving the shuttle is peaceful, but also is an opportunity to see new faces.
“You meet different people, I like people so you know, from the teenagers to the babies, and from the babies to the grown-ups,” he said. “I see a lot of the same, and sometimes there’s a lot of different ones.”
For many of MSU’s shuttle drivers, it’s that connection that makes the job fulfilling. Another Maroon Route driver, Ossie James, 65, said he loves getting to talk to and learning about all the people who ride the shuttle as he takes them to or from class every day.
“I talk to all of them, international students, white, black, and they’ve all get different views about life,” James said in his booming, gravely voice.
Talking over the noise of the bus and nondescript gospel music playing on the radio, he said he tries to be as friendly as possible to his riders, offering help and advice if his riders have any questions.
“A lot of people don’t like to talk to strangers, so if they saw my name, they’d say, ‘Mr. Ossie this .’ or whatever,” he said. “But it makes me feel good.”
Many students, a senior business major like Mary Ann Fowler, a senior business major, ride the buses every day, and take note of the drivers’ cheerful demeanor and kind words. Fowler, who said James was one of her favorite drivers, said she wished everyone who rode on the university shuttles would give the drivers more recognition.
“They do it every day and they deserve somebody to talk to,” she said.
Fowler said she often parks in the coliseum parking lot, just so she can ride the bus and talk to the drivers.
“It’s faster and easier and I get to see Mr. Ossie or some of the other bus drivers and get a chat in. It’s kind of nice and something different,” she said.
Getting to know the students and maintaining a good relationship with them also helps to pass the time every day, according to Alvis DeFord, 64, another driver on the Orange Route. An MSU alumnus who retired and returned to Starkville after more than 30 years of farming, DeFord said there was usually no shortage of things to talk about with the students, including athletics, funny anecdotes and occasionally problems in their lives.
“When you drive in circles like we do all the time, you don’t want to concentrate on landmarks because it’ll drive you crazy, so you concentrate on people,” he said.
Many of the drivers described their work as merely something to do to keep themselves occupied. DeFord said the encouragement they receive from the students, not the pay, makes the job worth it.
“Somebody asked me one day who drives the shuttles, and I said I guess we’re all probably ‘newlyweds and nearly-deads,'” he said. “Most of us have alternate incomes, we just do this because we enjoy doing it.”