At 4:04 p.m. each weekday over the past school year, a rhythmic honking blared outside Willie L. Brown Jr. Middle School in Bayview. It was the 44 O’Shaughnessy pulling up to the bus stop, but it was more than that. The sound was Mc “Mack” Allen’s signature arrival tune, a playful greeting for the swarm of kids he picked up every day like clockwork.
The 60 or so who took his bus home learned to listen for the tune. But it wasn’t just the honking that made Allen a beloved bus driver. He’d ask the kids how their day had been and make chitchat as they boarded. He’d call out each stop, reminding students lost in conversation that it was their turn to get off.
Allen became like a secret guardian to the middle schoolers. “He always made sure we got off at our stops,” said Sam Sullivan, an incoming seventh grader. “I thought it was really sweet. Normally bus drivers don’t do that.”…