Trials and Tribulations of the School Drop-Off line...

I've been brought out of semi-blog retirement today to discuss some pressing issues. It was brought to my attention this morning that the school pick-up line can be a frustrating, yet interesting, place each morning. I'm fairly sure a person's personality can be defined by their actions in this line. Now, to be fair, it must be stated that the person who brought this up to me was a male. And before I go any further, I need to "out" myself on some pick up line issues:

1) Each morning, I drop off my kids in the wrong line. We are suppose to go to another area, but due to my laziness, and my kid's insistence, I shoulder this guilt (and the occasional obscenity from friends when the line is backed up).

2) At least 40% of the drivers in drop-off line are men. Now this amazes me, because in our household, this has only happened on a few occasions. There was the time that I was in the hospital...and oh yes...the death in the family. To be fair,it makes sense in our family for me to do it. But even if it didn't, I'm fairly sure The Husband would not last a week. For one thing, the kids become extremely depressed when they hear that dad is going to do drop-off. The complaints range from "He'll make us late!" to "He doesn't know where to go". These are both valid points. The Husband is only familiar with the ballfield and the gymnasium. He sees no problem with dropping the kids wherever it is most convenient for him. If the line is too long, they may get dropped off at the Waffle House down the street and told to walk. If questioned on this, The Husband will mumble something about "building character" and "over-protective mom"...

Now that I have established my own drop-off shortcomings, I feel free to be critical of others.

First, we have the new people who have never done it before. They pull into the school and stop...and then proceed at 2 mph before finally rolling down their window and asking for help. On a 1 to 10 of irritation, they get a 5.

Next we have the mom's that insist on getting out of their car to help their kids out. I'm not talking about kids that have too much to unload, or kids that have broken legs...these are the mothers that just feel the need to stop the line while they give their kids final instructions for the day, sign any papers that need signing, or perhaps chat with the teachers on the curb. As they come around to get back in their car, they do the thing which seems to irritate the waiting line the most: The semi-crouch/wave/slight smile apology. Translated, this means, I realize that I have just been rude and caused you to wait...but by crouching and waving, it makes it all better. In the next 5 cars, the driver politely nods while cursing under his/her breath...

However petty it sounds, it must also be pointed out that the above moms generally wear a baseball cap. There must be some correlation to the action and the cap, but more research must be done in order to link these two.

Last but not least, there is the line-cutter. Having been raised by, and now married to this type...I am very familiar with this one. This is the driver who pretends not to see the line, and just heads to the most convenient spot to drop-off. These people feel no guilt...and they certainly don't feel the need to wave or smile....because their time is just more important than your time....

So that about wraps it up for drop-off line. I suppose it would be a bit more bearable if this was an opportunity for more quality conversation time with the kids while waiting...but unfortunately, it only extends the amount of time that I have to listen to some rap song talking about "my shawty" or "bottoms up"....

So until tomorrow...or next month...or the next time an irritation must be discussed...