Hey the last thing I want to do is offend anyone here, so let me say this up front: I don't have kids, I don't in any way claim to know what it's like to raise kids and I'm not telling anyone how they do it is wrong.
But this morning on my way to work I was pondering something. Here on the eastern seaboard it is a crisp, springlike day. Bright sun, cool temps. Beautiful. I live a bit out in the country, not out in the sticks but definitely not suburbia. I live on an acre, most of the homes I pass before I get to 'civilization' sit on 1 to 5 acres.
And sitting in the driveways of many of those homes, down close to the road, are idling minivans and SUVs, with a Mom at the wheel sipping coffee, and a kid in the passenger seat waiting for the bus. The bus arrives, comes to a complete stop. At this time the Mom begins her goodbyes, have a nice days and the kid gets out, gathers his bookbag, maybe the Mom yells some small talk to the bus driver out the window, oblivious to the line of traffic forming behind the bus. Then she puts her Starbucks travel mug in the holder and backs up the driveway.
What has happened to us as a nation when a kid can't walk eighty yards and stand outside on a beautiful morning and wait for a bus? Or for that matter, would it be too much to ask that the two kids next door walk to the middle kids house so the bus doesn't have to stop at three consecutive houses?
I often think about how World War II, if it had to happen, happened at the absolute best time to ensure American and Allied victory. The young men fighting that war were born of hardship and adversity, made to be strong and tough because before they had to save the world, they had to ensure the survival of their families. I see a lot of promise in some of today's youth, but I also see a lot that concerns me.
Well I sort of got off my own topic there, but it's just stuff I've been thinking about as I sit behind America's school buses, wondering if we haven't just gone a little too soft for our own good.
But this morning on my way to work I was pondering something. Here on the eastern seaboard it is a crisp, springlike day. Bright sun, cool temps. Beautiful. I live a bit out in the country, not out in the sticks but definitely not suburbia. I live on an acre, most of the homes I pass before I get to 'civilization' sit on 1 to 5 acres.
And sitting in the driveways of many of those homes, down close to the road, are idling minivans and SUVs, with a Mom at the wheel sipping coffee, and a kid in the passenger seat waiting for the bus. The bus arrives, comes to a complete stop. At this time the Mom begins her goodbyes, have a nice days and the kid gets out, gathers his bookbag, maybe the Mom yells some small talk to the bus driver out the window, oblivious to the line of traffic forming behind the bus. Then she puts her Starbucks travel mug in the holder and backs up the driveway.
What has happened to us as a nation when a kid can't walk eighty yards and stand outside on a beautiful morning and wait for a bus? Or for that matter, would it be too much to ask that the two kids next door walk to the middle kids house so the bus doesn't have to stop at three consecutive houses?
I often think about how World War II, if it had to happen, happened at the absolute best time to ensure American and Allied victory. The young men fighting that war were born of hardship and adversity, made to be strong and tough because before they had to save the world, they had to ensure the survival of their families. I see a lot of promise in some of today's youth, but I also see a lot that concerns me.
Well I sort of got off my own topic there, but it's just stuff I've been thinking about as I sit behind America's school buses, wondering if we haven't just gone a little too soft for our own good.
