I have a bone to pick with school buses.

I never used to notice them before when I was a slacker who was rolling out of bed around the time that the kids were probably entering their second or third class of the day.  And I was typically heading home when most of them had already finished dinner and were settling down for the evening.

But since I’ve changed up my schedule and am now going in much earlier and leaving much earlier, I can’t help but run into school buses everywhere and in the past week, they have become the bane of my existence.

• Why, why, why do they put bus stops on heavily trafficed major roads?  There is one main road that connects all of the smaller neighborhoods off of it and every morning, I see these children standing out waiting for their bus while cars just zoom past.  Or, I get stuck behind the bus stopping to pick the children up at the entrance of their neighborhood.  How about you turn INTO the neighborhood where traffic isn’t as heavy and people aren’t being held up while trying to get to work?
• And why is it necessary to have two stops on one block? I barely have enough time to accelerate before I’m stopping, again, and waiting for ONE kid to make his way off the bus while the OTHER one, who got off maybe 500 feet behind him is still making his way down the block.
• And what the hell is a bus doing dropping children, like eight and nine year old’s, off at 6pm at night?  Where were these kids? We had a late bus in school that let kids participate in after school activities and still have a ride home but even that bus got us home by like 5 or so.  I see these young kids getting off the bus at dusk and walking blocks by themselves and my heartstrings tug.  Then I get stuck behind the bus again and everything inside grumbles.
• And please, please, please stop taking those buses on the highway in the middle of rush hour traffic and using them to CUT ME OFF! You may have the right of way because you are bigger and uglier than me but you are freaking annoying!

Then again, the bus drivers can’t help it and I understand they have a purpose.  At least they have an excuse! That’s more than I can say about most of the other drivers on the road around here!