This small town is really testing me. I could come up with a list of things that are good about this place if I had a full day to do only that, because it wouldn’t be easy. Speaking about this town, I will say, the two good things in it are the house and piece of property that I live in and on. I am very grateful for that.

Today was the first day of school and for C it was also the first day at a new school. We all prepared for this day hoping it would go off without a hitch. Well, whoa! Slow down. I know, it’s the first day and the unexpected should be expected, but it wasn’t. One bus arrives ten minutes early. All right, this is not good, but it is what it is. The second bus and the most critical of the morning is scheduled to arrive at 7:27 a.m. We are ready at 7:18 a.m. I forgot to mention that it is raining. We go and stand outside to wait for the bus, because we don’t want to have to run across the street when it arrives. It is getting later and later, fifteen minutes before the bell rings and the bus is still nowhere in sight.

I had to drive C to school. The drop-off parking lot is in a shambles. What happened here? A minefield of potholes full of muddy water that look as though they will swallow my car if I’m unable to navigate through them. Beyond the potholes, bodies of water filled the circumference of my eyes. It was a dreadful scene.

I had the late bus experience when I was a child. The school I attended only had five buses for all the students attending. The bus I was assigned was always late. Each morning I wondered if I would arrive to school on time. The bus was also always late for dismissal more times than I can count. Getting to school after the other students were in class listening to the teacher go over the homework and hanging around the school waiting for the bus while all the other students were on their way home, where I envisioned them dropping their backpacks at the door and running for snacks, was infuriating. I hated it. This memory comes floating back to the top whenever the bus is late for my children.

I’m mad about the events of this morning, but I am livid about the fact that the bus company and school system don’t utilize the emergency notification system when the bus is late. This is not something that is uncommon. We never know when it’s going to be one of those mornings and we just have to sit and wait. I’ve tried calling the bus company before and after finding my way through the voicemail maze, it turned into a “wish I could reach through the phone” moment. And by then it’s no use. This bus company is often late in the afternoon, which prompted me to get C a cell phone so she could call and notify me that there was no bus to bring them home yet. Children stuck at the school with no bus and parents waiting at the bus stop wondering what the hell is going on. This is no way to run a company dealing with children in 2011. If I close my eyes I’m right back in the 1970s. And now the kicker, the new school (which is probably 50 years old) is in a dead zone, no cell service. Geez!

I made it back to the neighborhood this morning and I saw the bus, carrying approximately four kids whose parents probably didn’t have the luxury of driving them.

One day I’m going to make it to civilization!

© 2011 – 2012, CherylNation. All rights reserved.

{ 0 comments }