Let Me At ‘Em! (Writer’s Workshop #4)

This week’s Writer’s Workshop is about moxie, more specifically a time where moxie was evident. Last Friday at student dismissal “Moxie” was my middle name.

As to not have to completely explain my school’s dismissal procedures, just know that my school has dismissal procedures that we work very hard for our families to understand. These procedures are in place first and foremost for safety and running a close second is for efficiency/ease of dismissal. Every-so-often a family member doesn’t follow the procedures. That could be because they are new to the school (most of the time) or because they are inconsiderate idiots that don’t think the rules apply to them.

There is a grandfather who picks up his granddaughter everyday at school, and he is just a grumpy, old man. He would fall into the latter category of rule breakers. He never wants to follow the procedures and when he is asked to he yells at school staff (in front of his gd) and drives away.

This past Friday I had had enough! In his impatience and annoyance with a new parent who accidentally drove in the wrong line he decided to pull out in the middle of the driveway/road to prove a point. Because of that, he blocked the entrance into our school. That meant the school bus, Boys and Girls Club bus, teachers who had gone to lunch and were coming back, and maintenance workers were all blocked from getting into our school. It all happened so fast that I wasn’t able to do anything about it, and therefore became so annoyed and upset with this jerky guy that I paced up and down the walkway, thinking about what I would say when he finally drove up.

Up until this point, I didn’t even acknowledge the man, not wishing to be scowled or yelled at. On this day however, I did acknowledge him and just about flew into a tirade over his behavior. When he pulled up, I opened the door for the granddaughter and said, “You can yell at me as much as you want, but I need you to listen to me about this dismissal.” He looked shocked. I told him that he couldn’t block traffic. I told him he needed to be patient. I told him that we would take care of the people who were new and didn’t know the “rules”, and if people who knew the rules kept breaking them they were causing more of a problem. I told him that he blocked all the employees and buses from getting into the parking lot. I told him that he needed to worry about himself and no take matters into his own hands. I told him that all of these procedures were about one thing, safety.

He didn’t want to listen, but I held open the door of the truck, not letting him drive away until I said my piece. When I did, I was exhausted and just walked away, shaking.

Most of the time at school, we are treated with respect and the school rules are followed by both students and parents. Sure, it’s frustrating when the kids don’t follow the rules, but it’s even more frustrating when their parents break them without even a thought. This man’s behavior was inappropriate and I had had enough of it. I am a rule follower, and it angers me when others don’t. I respectfully tore him a new one and maybe that’s what it took to get him to do what he’s supposed to do.