Nothing Like Starting the Morning at a Dead Sprint

If you're like me, morning exercise is not for you. I know that many fitness experts will tell you that exercising in the morning is healthier for you. But for me, it's difficult because my body is still tight and I am not fully awake and I find that working out in the evenings allows me to do more at the gym.

Well, how would you like to start your mornings with a dead sprint? Not for me, I say. But you know what? It's not uncommon. You know why? Cause school kids and their parents are doing it everywhere when they're trying not to miss the bus!

I had the pleasure (or displeasure) of following a school bus yesterday morning....right around pick-up time. First of all, the difference between how it was when I went to school and how it is today is that kids have to stand on the corner at the entrance of their development. So if you happen to live in a particularly large development, and you're nestled in there way in the back, you're screwed cause you've got a hike to make it to the bus stop. Back when I was in elementary school, we had two stops on our pretty straightforward street - I was in the middle of the development so I could take my pick of which one I wanted to go to. The stop was separated by six houses. Anyway - as I was following the bus down one of the major roads in my neighborhood, stopping every time it stopped to pick up kids, there was never less than two kids and their parents running at a dead sprint trying to reach the bus because they were obviously late.

At one stop, there must've been 10 kids running for the bus - no lie. And I really wanted to roll down my window and scream, "Hey - get there earlier." And the kids weren't even coming from one direction - they were coming from both sides of the street. Why can't the kids from the other side of the road hang at the bus stop with the kids from the bus stop side of the street? Let's talk integration people...it will make the bus driver's job a little more efficient. At the next stop, two little kids were running - not to mention these kids have backpacks on. So picture this - a six year old kid, hauling a backpack, half his size, on his back, and working his little legs to reach that bus. His mother right behind him - laughing all the way. Lady, this is no laughing matter - do you see how much traffic you're holding up because you couldn't get your kid out of bed, dressed, groomed and fed on time? Is this really how you want your kids to start their school day - with their heart racing 100 miles per hour and when they finally do get on the bus, they're sweaty, their head starts to hurt and maybe they get made fun of for being late....cruel, just cruel.

Bless that bus driver because I would not have had the patience. If you're not there by the time the last kid at the stop gets on the bus, then you're getting a ride from your parents.