Out here on the Great Plains, you have to use the calendar to set the season.
Just because the weather is still freezing and there are blizzards in the forecast is no reason to doubt that it is spring.
Likewise, just because we are continuing to face triple-digit heat and will be for the foreseeable future is no reason to ignore that this is the back-to-school season.
Sure, we think of this happening in fall, but we are back to school, regardless of what the weather is like, and it’s time for drivers to realize the fact.
This goes for those people who are trying to get to work, and for those trying to drop off Johnny or Suzie right in front of the school.
Use a little good sense and add a few minutes onto your drive time and we will all be much safer, not to mention much happier.
Let’s face it. Great Bend just isn’t all that large. Leaving home just five minutes earlier will make a huge difference in getting to work on time, even if you do have to pass through half a dozen school zones.
What else could increase the traffic flow?
If mom and dad would pay attention to the parking arrangements that our school district provides.
All over town — including in front of the high school — the district has had the foresight to set up areas off the driving lane where mom and dad can drop off little Johnny and Suzie, where they can give them that last pep talk or bit of sage advice, where they can have their tearful parting — and ALL without having to block traffic in the driving lane.
The school district has even gone so far to set up signs that explain all this.
So how about trying to actually use the pull off and let the rest of us go to work?
Certainly, we get a vicarious gratification from you public display of parental concern, but we’d just as soon you stopped blocking legitimate traffic.
Here’s an extreme challenge: What if you were to drop the kids off in a less busy traffic area and they could actually hoof it the last half block to school?
Notice, we haven’t had any blizzards or torrential rains lately. They’d be safe that last 100 yards or so.
Drivers who are just passing through, need to pay attention to the school zones.
Parents need to pay attention to not blocking traffic.
If we do that, presumably we will get to work and the kids will get to school. This is not to say we will all be happy, but we will all be safe.
It’s going to be a long school season. Let’s give this a shot.
— Chuck Smith