Bus stop pickup insanity

[Exterous]

So one day last week I got home at a different time than usual and saw several cars idling in our subdivision not too far from my house. I looked at my watch and realized the bus was due in about 15min. About 8 minutes later I left to take my dog for a walk. The entourage had grown to 3 minivans, 1 yukon XL and one Suburban all just sitting there pumping out co2. It was a perfectly nice, sunny day and none of these kids had more than a 0.33mi walk. As the bus left I watched the Austin Powers ballet begin as everyone tried to do 14 point turns in their large vehicles to head home. One vehicle headed 7 houses down but the best was the car that turned around and drove ~250ft to their house. The woman had sat for at least 15 minutes in a running Yukon to pickup her daughter and drive her 5 seconds to the house....(She also spent more time on turning the vehicle around than driving to their house)

 

[lxskllr]

Yea, that stuff irritates me. And everyone wonders why their kids are mushy little sponge cakes...

 

[Brainonska511]

How old are these children? Meeting your children, depending on the age, doesn't sound too crazy, but it's absolutely insane to idle at and drive them home from the bus stop.

On a related note, I'd love to see a reduction in the amount of land barges people buy because they "need" that vehicle <1% of the year.

 

[ch33zw1z]

The parents should just walk down there (time permitting). If you tell your kid to walk home from the but stop, and anything happens to the kid, child neglect charges inbound

 

[Captante]

Yea, that stuff irritates me. And everyone wonders why their kids are mushy little sponge cakes...

Of course a lot of the parents are BIG sponge-cakes themselves you understand ... can't expect them to put down the twinkie and hoof it!

 

[snoopy7548]

(She also spent more time on turning the vehicle around than driving to their house)

She was probably looking at her phone.

 

[IronWing]

I enjoy the parental peel out as the red lights go out on the school bus, spraying gravel on lessor children.

 

[sdifox]

Rent a white cube van. Put a free candy magnet sign on the side. Get there early and park close to the school bus stop.

 

[nakedfrog]

The line to pick up kids at the middle school here is unreal, and they do the same thing, show up early (probably jockeying for a better spot in line) and idle for 10-20 minutes. I made my kid walk to the park 1/8th of a mile away and picked them up from that parking lot instead.

 

[ondma]

I walked 3 block to the bus stop, and home after school. Never got picked up at the stop by my parents.
Things are different these days though, so I can understand dropping off or picking up one's kids. Even more so here in Minnesota in the winter when the weather is brutally cold, sidewalks are icy, and visibility is poor at intersections due to mounds of snow. The fact that a lot of people drive large trucks or SUVs when they dont need them is a problem though.

 

[Brainonska511]

I walked 3 block to the bus stop, and home after school. Never got picked up at the stop by my parents.
Things are different these days though, so I can understand dropping off or picking up one's kids. Even more so here in Minnesota in the winter when the weather is brutally cold, sidewalks are icy, and visibility is poor at intersections due to mounds of snow. The fact that a lot of people drive large trucks or SUVs when they dont need them is a problem though.

Are things really that different though? Or are people just hyper paranoid?

 

[BurnItDwn]

if you are 5 or older you should be able to find your way home from school.

 

[AdamK47]

I remember in 6th grade having to walk 1 mile to the bus stop and 1 mile back getting home because the main road the bus took was being completely redone. Had to do that for 6 months.

 

[WelshBloke]

My kids walk.
The oldest has to catch the bus and driving to a bus stop is just s weird idea.
The youngest walks to school but her school is only just over a Km away.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

The people with the most to lose, due to climate change, are the most naive about it. 4 kids, gas guzzling truck, huge house, etc.. No idea they are contributing to the mad Max society their kids are going to live through.

 

[pete6032]

Are things really that different though? Or are people just hyper paranoid?

People are just paranoid.

 

[ondma]

Are things really that different though? Or are people just hyper paranoid?

Probably still pretty much the same. But I lived in a small town where pretty much everybody knew everyone else. Nothing is totally safe, but undoubtedly safer than a large city.

 

[sdifox]

Probably still pretty much the same. But I lived in a small town where pretty much everybody knew everyone else. Nothing is totally safe, but undoubtedly safer than a large city.

Most common child abduction is parental. Like after divorce. I don't see how where you live will make a diff in those cases.

 

[IronWing]

if you are 5 or older you should be able to find your way home from school.

That was my parents' attitude.

 

[Exterous]

How old are these children? Meeting your children, depending on the age, doesn't sound too crazy, but it's absolutely insane to idle at and drive them home from the bus stop.

On a related note, I'd love to see a reduction in the amount of land barges people buy because they "need" that vehicle <1% of the year.

I'm bad at guessing the age of children so somewhere between 4 and 18.

But I completely agree on the land barges. Lots of high end trucks around here and I've never seen anyone haul anything. Sure maybe a few do on a very rare occasion and I didn't notice but no where near enough to account for all of them. And the massive SUVs because that one time 3 years ago they needed the 3rd row seating for an hour...

 

[robphelan]

if you are 5 or older you should be able to find your way home from school.

finding your way home is not the same as being safe on your way home.

 

[Brainonska511]

finding your way home is not the same as being safe on your way home.

While that is a true statement, a bus from the school should be able to safely get a kid from school to their neighborhood. And presumably, it should be safe to walk from the bus stop to your home in your own neighborhood. If it isn't, you should be figuring out why it isn't the case and lobbying your local government to fix the problem.

 

[kranky]

I knew a lot of parents picked their kids up at the bus stop but I did not know they sat there with engines running. That's just stupid.

This inspired me to go to google maps and measure - I walked 1/3 mile to school from K through 6th. Alone, unless I happened to encounter another student along the way. Crossed 4 streets, one of which had a crossing guard. While it was an small suburban school district, still there were very few areas that had buses. Well over half the students either walked or had someone drive them. But I accept times were different and today you might lose parental rights for letting a 5 year old walk 1/3 mile to school alone.

 

[JEDIYoda]

When I was growing up in the back hills of Montana we had to walk 6 miles each way every morning regardless of the weather! In the winrter time we were allowed to wear shoes!!

 

[zinfamous]

Send them all to the firing squad!