Baffling Things
I walk Mila to her bus stop every morning. I hope she cherishes every moment because the timer on these shenanigans is going to go off as soon as possible. Other than the few minutes with one of my favorite kids, I HATE the bus stop. HATE. The very second I suspect Mila is mature enough to walk 100 feet by herself without running in front of a car, she's doing it. I will watch from the safety of my driveway.
It's that it involves people. I don't like people. I especially don't like people early in the day. I'm just really bad at peopling with essentially strangers and I am incapable of faking it until at least 10:00. I would have thought I would outgrow this inability to people thing, but I'm realizing right now that I'm at an age that would say HAHAHAHANOPE. I'm definitely not outgrowing it. THIS IS ME.
And there's a LOT of people. There are probably 10 kids at Mila's bus stop, and 8 adults who tag along. I hadn't really thought about those numbers much ... until today.
For real, there are probably 10 kids. Two of them are in kindergarten, which means the rest of them probably pass my "no running in traffic" test. Right? They have to. The other kids are, of course, older, ranging all the way up to 5th grade.
Oh, and the bus stop is in someone's driveway. A fifth grader's to be precise.
And four of the kids are from two sets of siblings. The older sibling is third or fourth grade while the younger are first or kindergarten.
So what we have here is a checklist. Mostly the checklist exists in my head, but let's write it out.
- Can he/she walk to the bus stop without getting hit by a car?
- Will he/she get distracted while walking and potentially not get to the bus stop?
- Is there some other kid who can assume responsibility?
- Can I see the bus stop from my house and get there in less than 10 seconds if there is a problem?
- Do I have better things to do? Like scrub a toilet because that's more fun than waiting at the bus stop.
I can't speak for anyone regarding the last item in that list, but the other four? WHY ARE THERE SO MANY PARENTS AT THE BUS STOP? Is it a thing and I just don't realize it? Does money sometimes fall from the back of the bus?
SERIOUSLY, WHY DO SO MANY PARENTS WALK TO THE BUS STOP AND THEN HANG OUT?
One of them, the one who LIVES RIGHT THERE BECAUSE IT'S HIS DRIVEWAY, walks his kid out to the bus, and then hangs out all day. Like, ALL DAY. He purposely exposes himself to other parents. And his kid is in fifth grade, so it's not even necessary. HE'S DOING IT FOR FUN!
I don't comprehend.
How is it that there are people who people FOR FUN?
Thursday, September 5, 2019
Reader Comments (2)
The only thing they're teaching their kids is that mommy and daddy don't trust them.
People are why my work hours start 1/2 an hour before everyone else's. Also, WTF. I was walking to school/bus stop by myself at 8 years old...3rd grade (yes I counted on my fingers) and my parents didn't hover.