and next to it is this...
looking through your windshield, chances are I don't see your car behind me, which means...
YOU ARE TOO CLOSE TO MY VEHICLE DARNIT!!!
(I'm not afraid to back into you...or drive up your hood)
Seriously I know I've complained about parking at the school before, but today takes the all-time cake hands down. I realize school let out early because of the weather and people have jobs to return to after picking up their kids. Who doesn't? What irks me is the condition of that stupid pick-up lane was slick, cars were lined along both sides, and people still wanted to drive down the middle and stop to get their child (apparently middle school students are made of some sort of water/snow soluble substance). Not only that, but for 10 minutes (yes I actually kept track, this subject motivates me enough to gather data in search of a solution) someone thought it was a good idea since they were in the middle parked to wait for their child to exit the building, preventing anyone who was ready to leave from doing so. Next comes the good part, a guy thought driving his plow-equipped truck down the middle was a GOOD idea.
Then comes the part that really, really, really irritated me. After being parked next to the curb for 15 minutes waiting for my daughter, I spent another 20 waiting to be allowed to leave the curb. At this point the cars along the opposing curb had decided to migrate to the middle of the lane, I'd had my turn signal on for the first 10 minutes after my daughter got in the Jeep and was waiting for the new midstream flow to start moving, half pulled out, when everyone behind me decided they needed to go perform life or death brain surgery and should pass me. The gentleman in the Servpro van (originally three vehicles behind me before the rush started) even took the opposing curb to get around me rather than allow me into traffic as it were. I spent another 10 minutes having to wait for ALL the vehicles that had arrived to pass before I was able to fully pull out...this included no fewer than five vehicles that arrived during the mass migration and just kept going forward. All together it took almost 45 minutes from the time I arrived until the time I was back on Illinois Avenue. Forty-five minutes for a pick-up that normally takes 15 maybe 20. I don't mind waiting, I even stopped to allow a group of teachers to cross the road and get to their cars (note to the lady behind me: I know it was you honking, the dirty look you gave was a giveaway), but what happened to common courtesy? What example are we setting for our kids when we can't even take the time to let someone into traffic who has been waiting well longer than we have (especially during Christmas time)?
Thinking over the situation I reached a conclusion. Next time (God help me if there is one) I'm dropping into 4-wheel drive and leaving a trail through the grass back to the actual street. So if you do happen to pull into John Adams some afternoon when school is out and you see a red Jeep doing that, thank a Vet.
That's all I have for today, I'm going to step off my soap box now.
Be safe, and courteous.
~~~
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