November 1, 2016
Dear Todd,
As I pulled up to the school this morning, I noticed a large black suburban at the tail end of the drop-off line. It was parked. Not dropping anybody, but parked. So I slowly pulled forward in an effort to claim some curbside real estate to drop off our two and realized there were 3 more cars. Parked. I pulled awkwardly in front of the silver Subaru, wedging myself behind the white Chevy and had the kids jump out---as if I were DROPPING THEM OFF. I then sat, and watched "Alice" lean out the passenger window from the driver 's seat to talk with "Judy" who was walking her son on the sidewalk. Just then, Alice's son came back to the car because he, after being on the playground for 3 minutes, had something more to say. And I'm pretty sure that, had his mother not still been sitting there, well...I don't want to even imagine the trauma that could have caused. Thank God, she was still there.
In case, you haven't noticed...I have found, without fail, that while dropping our kids off at school each morning, my spirit gets a little more broken.
Yes, this screams "First World Problem." And it is.
Because only in a First World, do we have so much self-importance. There is so much "ME ME ME ME" ooozing from people frantically trying to get their child to school on time. And then, on top of the urgency, there are still the people, who as children were the ones (Ali Jaffey) that would just "sit" because they wanted THAT spot, instead of sliding down to the end of the row to make room for everyone---now they are adults and they stop wherever they please for as long as they want, because it's about them.
I know I am not exempt from this group of people. I think we are all guilty of it and some days it may be a direct result of all the other days where we are trying to be self-scarifcing and so we say, "It's about me today. Suck it." Which is extremely mature when it comes to something as life altering as "drop-off."
But, I am making a plea, and for myself a conscious effort to NOT be this person each morning---no matter how late I may be running. It sets a tone for the rest of the day. A tone that says to others, "Your needs are not as important as mine." In my opinion, that message is being sent way too often, when it shouldn't be sent at all.
Dear Todd,
As I pulled up to the school this morning, I noticed a large black suburban at the tail end of the drop-off line. It was parked. Not dropping anybody, but parked. So I slowly pulled forward in an effort to claim some curbside real estate to drop off our two and realized there were 3 more cars. Parked. I pulled awkwardly in front of the silver Subaru, wedging myself behind the white Chevy and had the kids jump out---as if I were DROPPING THEM OFF. I then sat, and watched "Alice" lean out the passenger window from the driver 's seat to talk with "Judy" who was walking her son on the sidewalk. Just then, Alice's son came back to the car because he, after being on the playground for 3 minutes, had something more to say. And I'm pretty sure that, had his mother not still been sitting there, well...I don't want to even imagine the trauma that could have caused. Thank God, she was still there.
In case, you haven't noticed...I have found, without fail, that while dropping our kids off at school each morning, my spirit gets a little more broken.
Yes, this screams "First World Problem." And it is.
Because only in a First World, do we have so much self-importance. There is so much "ME ME ME ME" ooozing from people frantically trying to get their child to school on time. And then, on top of the urgency, there are still the people, who as children were the ones (Ali Jaffey) that would just "sit" because they wanted THAT spot, instead of sliding down to the end of the row to make room for everyone---now they are adults and they stop wherever they please for as long as they want, because it's about them.
I know I am not exempt from this group of people. I think we are all guilty of it and some days it may be a direct result of all the other days where we are trying to be self-scarifcing and so we say, "It's about me today. Suck it." Which is extremely mature when it comes to something as life altering as "drop-off."
But, I am making a plea, and for myself a conscious effort to NOT be this person each morning---no matter how late I may be running. It sets a tone for the rest of the day. A tone that says to others, "Your needs are not as important as mine." In my opinion, that message is being sent way too often, when it shouldn't be sent at all.
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