My job is to make sure the local middle schoolers cross a busy intersection safely. I haul myself out there every morning/afternoon tooting my whistle and waving my STOP sign. It’s not that difficult to convey instructions to those willing to listen. Of course, there are those smartass kids who know just how to push our buttons. You know who you are. Kids who think its funny to empty our water bottle when we were crossing kids when its 99 degrees outside after we’ve been standing there for an hour. Or, instead of crossing at the crosswalk like good middle schoolers, where we can stop traffic for them to insure they cross the street wtihout incedent, they walk down half a block and jaywalk across the street. Who is going to get hell if they were to get hit by a car? Us of course. After all, we’re supposed to make sure they cross safely. But unless their parents give us permission to bonk them on the head with our metal sign when they acting up, there’s not much we can do.
Kids who steal from the Ice cream truck then cuss you out when I recognize them the next day. Or sit in my chair and refuse to get up.
Yeah, pretty tame stuff. I can already sense the :rolleyes: I’m gonna get from some Dopers that have it way worse. But the reason it bothers me is not what they are doing, it is the fact that they are deliberately doing it to get on my nerves. The fact that they are trying to make me lose my temper. The fact that they have the kind of parents who think their child can do no wrong even though they are totally out of control.
I hope next year I get assigned to cross Kindergarteners. They’re much more complacent, and actually look up to me. And they don’t jaywalk :mad:
