Ok, what the hell is it with school busses that have to stop EVERY TEN FEET to pick up/drop off a child?
I’m not exaggerating here. Lately I’ve had the constant bad luck to be behind busses in the morning and afternoon commute. It doesn’t seem to matter how I vary my schedule within it’s narrow parameters, I still find myself sitting in my car, taking 10 minutes to drive 2 miles while the bus stops, opens the door, lets one – ONE – child off the bus, closes the door, drives forward 10-25 feet, opens the door, lets another child off, and repeats over and over.
I live in a rural part of New Hampshire (I guess that’s redundant). In places, homes are spaced pretty far apart, and I get that we don’t want the kids walking any real distance to a centralized bus stop.
No wait, I don’t. Why can’t kids walk? I walked to my bus stop every morning, for every year I was in school until I was old enough to drive. When I was really young, it was just down the street, still in sight of my house (and the houses of the other kids at that stop). As I got older, it moved 2 blocks away. I don’t recall it being a real hardship. I’m not suggesting they should have to go that epic a distance…but maybe 100 feet? That way the bus would only have to stop 1/5 as many times.
Anyway, rural aside, these drop offs were at houses in the middle of town. The families of these houses could practically look into each other’s windows if they wanted to. Do the kids really need door-to-door service?
Why am I even upset about this?
- It’s annoying as hell if you’re caught in it.
- It makes you late for wherever you’re trying to go – and not just me, but the 20-25 cars piled up behind me.
- It’s a pretty significant waste of fuel. Think about all these cars stopping and starting every few feet (not to mention the heavy bus). It’s like being caught in Boston traffic, but without the benefit of a nearby bar or some guy washing your car windows.
- It’s just stupid. Holding up dozens of people just so some 8 year-old can step off the bus into his front lawn, instead of walking 100 feet is a level of stupid seldom seen even in modern government. 20 adults wasting 10 minutes each of their time = 3 man-hours. Just so some kid can get to the TV faster. No wonder 90% of America’s youth are obese.
- That 3 man-hours? Multiply that by every town this is happening in, every school day. We could put a man on Mars in the time we’re spending behind school busses.
Some idiot suggested to me that it was for the child’s “safety”. Huh? Really? They can’t walk 100 feet safely in towns so small that the two police officers haven’t ever seen an actual crime? I’ve driven down that same road on a Saturday and seen those same kids 3/4 of a mile from their house, walking to the corner store for candy, or whatever kids buy these days. Their parents clearly think that’s safe enough.
I know this isn’t the kids doing, it’s the dolts we elect to school boards and state legislatures. I’m sure it’s some kind of ridiculous law that we have to drop every child off no more than 2 inches from their front stoop. The hell with how much money and time we’re wasting. Don’t worry about balancing the budget or improving our schools, that’d require tackling tough issues. The “no child left more than 2 feet from their house” law only took 2 minutes to think of and pass into law. Whew. Break time!
But don’t worry, I’ve got all our problems solved. I came up with the answers in the countless hours I’ve spent stopped behind busses.
