At Joy’s request, passenger Danny, an accountant and Joy’s rule keeper, presents George with the first rule: “You’re the Driver of Your Bus” (25).

Joy explains that unless we assume responsibility for the results in our life, we’ll blame others, giving them control over our outcomes. She asks Marty, the bus’s research guy, to find the statistic about when people are most likely to die. Marty consults his laptop and announces that more people die at 9:00 a.m. on Monday than at any other time. Joy says, “People would rather die than go to work” (27), which suggests most people feel trapped and helpless. They can, however, choose their lives and where their bus will go.

George protests that over time outsiders—the government, the boss, the spouse—slowly take over a person’s life, telling them what they can and can’t do. Joy tells George to smile; he does so. Joy points out that his energy rose simply from smiling. She asks him about his vision for his life. George doesn’t know, beyond getting away from his current one.

Joy pulls a children’s book from her satchel and hands it to George. On the cover is a picture of a bus emblazoned with the words “Energy Bus.