The Parent Trap

I cruised past a long line of cars parked illegally on a side street near the high school. Foolishly, or maybe bravely, I headed into the belly of the beast. The drop off/pick up lane (it should be "lame") or the parent trap! Appropriately, Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train" came on the radio. It is 10-15 minutes of utter chaos made worse by some ill chosen behaviors. Not paying attention is the Queen Mother of All That is Maddening. Students cross in undesignated places and rarely look both ways or over their shoulder to make sure there are no vehicles.

People driving cars and doing whatever else they are doing, causing others to miss a light, a parking space or an opportunity to escape the looney line after leaving or retrieving their student(s). Does no one remember Mirror, Signal, Manouever? MSM I have seen some crazy driving as patience, perseverance and parking skills are put to the test. My poor kid has to use her airpods because I can not stop the alternating stream of obscenities, sighs, gutteral noises and deep breathing I need to navigate the nonsense!

Thankfully, I don't have to pick her up everyday. More often than not, she leaves with a friend to get high priced beverages at Dutch Brothers or Boba. The Dutch Bros. close to us is another drive through fiasco and a bit too hipster for my taste. I've enjoyed a beverage or two from other locations with a better set up.

Boba tea is good but the little tapioca balls remind me of the time in second grade when my sister convinced me that salmon eggs were candy. After popping several in my mouth and spitting them out like bullets from a machine gun, I can assure you they were not candy. So, those little tapioca balls don't work for me, the texture is too much like salmon eggs and I am emotionally scarred.

It's funny how some parts of the after school routine are so different and others are the same. Very few kids were picked up by their parents when I was in school. Some kids rode the bus but most of us walked until high school when at least one friend drove. Admittedly, my hometown was far less spread out and not as hot as Hades for the first and last part of the school year.

Foraging for treats with your friends after school is something I did throughout my school years. Hitting the Mom & Pop corner store and later Bonanza 88 (the dollar store of my generation) for a Big Hunk candy bar or a Charleston Chew. You wanted to get the most for your money and those candy bars kept your mouth busy. As I got older, we might visit an independent burger stand for a basket of fries and a soda, usually shared. Or sometimes a cone from Foster's Freeze. The treats have changed but the routine hasn't.

Now that I am safely home and have taken a little trip down memory lane while my blood pressure returned to normal, I may be able to interact with people again!