Crossing Guards Are Getting Too Power Hungry - Suburb Saturdays Volume 14

CRISTOBAL HERRERA-ULASHKEVICH. Shutterstock Images.

Crossing Guards have long been an unsung hero of the school system. They are the great equalizer to busy streets and keep our kids safe. I fully support these guys in their quest for a perfect record of safety, but I've recently taken umbrage with one in my neighborhood.

So a Crossing Guard's job fundamentally is to protect kids and there is nothing wrong with that. But the elementary school near me starts around 8:30am which is around the time I drop my kids off at daycare, which is a little farther away. So sometimes I know that I'll get held up there because I'll be passing the school around when school starts. If that happens and I'm a bit delayed and miss my train - hand up, that's on me and that's my fault, I should've gotten out the door quicker and can't expect the world to revolve around my schedule. School starts at the same time every day so I need to account for that in my preparation to get out the door.

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But my issue is when I'm early. The other day I left at 8:05am and had a morning meeting so wanted to get in earlier to get some work done before it. With elementary school still 25 minutes from starting, it's very rare for kids to just be waiting outside for 25 minutes. In fact, at that time, there were zero kids or parents outside the school. Sure the Crossing Guard should be there for when the kids eventually start walking, but they exist for kids. That morning, I had the Crossing Guard throw up his stop sign for a jogger that wasn't even crossing in front of my car. She was parallel with the street but he still threw up the stop across all ways. It was an adult! Why is this Crossing Guard getting power hungry over this! There wasn't a kid in sight! Now I'm waiting for this adult to get across a street that isn't even the one I'm on? I was completely baffled by this move. If it was a kid, I understand it, but Crossing Guards should not be here to service adults! They can take care of themselves! So maybe next time, just stay in your seat until a real kid comes. Us adults can handle crossing the street by ourselves.