LeaderHerald.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Community

Publisher's Point

POSTED:Tue, January 13, 2009 @ 7:50AM

Print | Email | Read comments | Post a comment

A Pet Peeve

One of my (yes, I do have several) particular and continual annoyance are school bus procedures.

#1 - that they stop at one house, pick up the student, go two or three houses down and stop again and pick up the next. There are just so many things wrong about this and it happens again and again.

#2 -the bus stops, all flashing lights going, and you wait. You wait for the bused passenger to come out of the house, after apparently they have seen this big yellow vehicle. You wait as now they say good-bye to mom (yes, kissing mom is a good thing) and now you wait as you see the bus aide meet this passenger, exchange pleasantries and they walk to the bus.

Today I had another head shaking observations – the bus stops at a house in the city of Gloversville (point, no rural road, no hazards etc). I wait, out comes a young man, teen-ager probably five foot six or seven, half way to the approximate twenty steps to the bus a bus aide gets off and meets him, they both enter the bus and I wait while they are seated.

As I am starting to go, I see the bus come to another stop, flashing lights and the works, two doors down. I pull over, just because I enjoy being aggravated and watch in my rear view mirror as another young teen promenades out of the house and the same routine is repeated.

Yelp, I am sitting there shaking my head thinking how much gas (diesel) all over the county from school buses sitting, waiting, stopping and going is being wasted. I am thinking the heck with taxing sugar free soda, you want to fight obesity Gov. Paterson or school districts – lighten up on the regulations, the pampering and get kids moving

I know that none of this is the bus driver’s fault, or the district’s bus garage employees, or the aides – they are all just following procedures.

As an individual who rode a bus to school, on my list of pet peeves, procedures that are ridiculous.

Share:

Facebook

MySpace

Digg

Stumble

Mixx

Fark

del.icio.us

LiveSpaces

Member Comments

View Comments: | 1-23 | Post a comment

InnocentParty
01-26-09 12:53 PM »Report Abuse	Again, with all due respect Oxy, I do not believe for a second that the situation Mrs.Beck describes is due to arthritic children. Would you expect me to believe that every child picked up at their door, on any ONE given street has arthritis or some other debilitating illness/disease? A school bus stopping every couple of houses, idling while little Johnny/Susie kisses mommy goodbye and then skips down the driveway is ludicrous. By the way, I would think that since little Johnny/Susie can leisurely walk, quickly jog, or pleasantly skip down the driveway to the bus, they most likely don't have arthritis.
OxyMoron
01-21-09 12:33 PM »Report Abuse	IP, you may think differently if it were your child. Arthritis is not something that I would wish on anyone, neither is Cerebral Palsey. They conditions happen through no fault of your own. Why should the children suffer? If I were to drive my children back and forth everyday to school then I would have to quit my job and then your tax dollars could pay for me to live. How about we do that, huh? I own a home and my tax dollars are being used to benefit my children, and yours. Caring for children with disabilities properly is not coddling them. Until you have a medical degree you know not of what you speak.
InnocentParty
01-20-09 10:18 AM »Report Abuse	With all due respect, a child with arthritis who can't stand to walk to school? Let their parent(s) be parent(s) and DRIVE them to school. They chose to have the child, it's their responsibility to take care of them, not the the taxpayers. Firekatt hit the nail on the head. It's the parents whining and sniveling that demand the coddling of today's children.
fenny23
01-19-09 11:12 PM »Report Abuse	Finally, a real blog! This is what a blog is all about.
OxyMoron
01-19-09 2:17 PM »Report Abuse	Mrs. Beck, bottom line is the safety of our children. Obviously the school district and the state have adopted policies that they believe are beneficial. So since you now know the routine, give yourself a few extra minutes in travel time and you should not get as frustrated. Pick your battles... Mrs. Beck, did you realize that some children are picked up at their door due to a physical disability such as arthritis that you may not be privy to or may be able to see? These children may live very close to the school in fact but the extra walking bothers them, whether it be walking to school or walking to a mutual point for pick up. I know. My daughter is one of them. Who gives you the right to feel frustrated when the only thing that you are lacking is patience and understanding? Pick your battles, obviously this is one that you will not win and it is petty besides.
Discobulous
01-18-09 6:54 PM »Report Abuse	Love it, but ouch!
teebzz
01-18-09 12:40 PM »Report Abuse	ive tried that teen-ager thing for a while too, but it didnt pay well and the competition was fierce. ah inventions.... i told u about my non-drowsy sleeping pills. how bout a razor/cell phone? perfect sideburns every time.
Discobulous
01-18-09 12:10 PM »Report Abuse	I have had several occupations. I started life as a baby and worked myself up to becoming a teen-ager. Tried to stay at that level but it didn't work. Applied for duty as a gigolo but Mrs. Robinson picked the chauffeur instead. Worked for a while in a sardine factory but got canned. Resigned myself to working for a living and put in the usual 37 years required to escape back to freedom. Currently I'm working as an inventor: working on an inventon that combines an electric doorbell and an electric razor. I don't know what it's for, but it's a real humdinger.
teebzz
01-17-09 1:25 PM »Report Abuse	i am truly curious about Discobulous' chosen profession.
teendude
01-17-09 9:55 AM »Report Abuse	debater,thank you.i was truly curious about pbeck's chosen profession.
pbeck
01-16-09 10:26 PM »Report Abuse	Obviously you must have read Bill's broadside. His blog is very interesting...and entertaining.
Discobulous
01-16-09 7:56 PM »Report Abuse	As far as body anguage goes, right now I'm writing and doing the twist. Can you feel the love?
debater
01-16-09 5:37 PM »Report Abuse	Mrs. Beck and teendude, that's the problem with blogs and texting. We miss the tone, emotion, and body language when we write; leading to misinterpretation. Reading through the responses, teendude sounded like he was on the attack at first and Mrs. Beck sounded like she fired back a justful remark with attitude. But, then rereading them in a sincere way, after the explanation they were sincere, I was able to read them without the attitude- go figure.
FireKatt
01-14-09 7:57 AM »Report Abuse	As a kid...we all met at one place for the bus...and kids from a long ways away walked to that stop...if you were late as some were the bus waited while you ran, from a long driveway or blocks away...no one picked us up from house to house. Kids in Johnstown in those days walked to school...they didn't have a bus picking them up with the school in sight. This is just another waste of taxpayers money..gas..time etc...And many times I wonder if the kids wouldn't prefer to walk in groups with their schoolmates...I think its the parents whining and sniveling that demand the coddling.
pbeck
01-13-09 8:17 PM »Report Abuse	It was a sincere answer. How did you determine that it was rude? When people ask a question on my blog, I do try to answer.
Discobulous
01-13-09 7:15 PM »Report Abuse	Hey....can't we all jes' get along?
teendude
01-13-09 6:31 PM »Report Abuse	pbeck,it was a sincere question,why so rude?
pbeck
01-13-09 4:42 PM »Report Abuse	teendude - Excuse me? This is my job - pretty much twenty- four seven. You are on the newspaper's website. I am the publisher of The Leader-Herald. Does that answer your questions?
teendude
01-13-09 1:51 PM »Report Abuse	o.t.pbeck,how many hours a day do you work and how many days and is it worth it?i notice your responses to blogger's come at all times such as today.
SNOWGRINCH
01-13-09 12:17 PM »Report Abuse	I agree with you Peg… unless it’s -20F I would expect the kids to be at the bus pick up on time most of the time. Some kids wait in the house till the bus arrives, then put on their coats, kiss mom good by and stroll to the bus. ~~~ Another point… There are “NO PARKING THIS SIDE” signs on Prospect Ave in the block along Blvd School. It’s difficult enough to see the elementary school kids there but with cars parked right under the NO PARKING signs, it is a real hazard. The worst offender is Blvd School’s crossing guard who should know better. Her job is the safety of the crossing kids, yet her car and others make that area a more dangerous situation. ~~~
InnocentParty
01-13-09 11:31 AM »Report Abuse	Wow Mrs.Beck, you truly are a brave soul! Do you know how much ridiculing you're going to get for this blog entry? Don't you know that today's children are our future? They MUST be coddled and pampered in order for them to be productive snots of tomorrow. On the other side of that, I totally agree with the point of your entry. Why does the bus stop at every other house? Why can't all of the kids meet at a corner or 1 particular driveway? Stop and go eats up a lot of diesel and that bus driver's arm must ache. Ergonomically it's not practical for him to open/close the door continuously. Can't that cause bursitis or something? Happy New Year!
rsoxfan33
01-13-09 11:28 AM »Report Abuse	It's even more frustrating when i come from my house in Meco and the bus stops at a house and you look up and you can see the school...If you are in sight of the school should you really need a ride there...
Discobulous
01-13-09 9:21 AM »Report Abuse	Right. I think they should adopt the system trains used to use to pick up mail without stopping the train. They hung the mail sack beside the tracks on a pole and an arm from the mail car caught it and swung it into the mailcar. Let's try some variation on that theme.

You must first login before you can comment.

Existing Member Login
Not a Member?	Create a Member Account
*Your email address:		<--Email REQUIRED!
*Password:	Forgot Password?	<--Password REQUIRED!
	Remember my email address.

Publisher's Point

A Pet Peeve

Member Comments

You must first login before you can comment.

Pat Beck