Monday, February 05, 2007

BLUE MONDAY

It's 8:35am on a Monday morning and I've already had a visit from the police. Had I known they'd be stopping by I'd have popped into the ubiquitous Dunkin Donuts, there's one every 1/4 mile in New England. So why did my town's finest stop by?

BECAUSE AN IDIOT BLEW PAST MY KIDS' SCHOOL BUS AGAIN! And I got his plate number. So, to you, Mr. CT blue Explorer (or something like it) with the 3%9O*U plate, (I figure I shouldn't give out his tag number) your phone is about to ring.

I've blogged a couple of times about our near misses with the school bus. I repeat. My girls have autism. They ride the short bus to school. It's easier for them. I live on a very busy street. The bus can not pull into the driveway by law. So I take a moment to put Miss Peanut's seatbelt on each day. Then Miss G has to get settled next to her. She can't sit until I'm done with Peanut. I rush, believe me. I know there are cars stacking up behind us like a Girls Gone Wild gang bang queue. I jump off the darn bus as fast as I can, wave to everyone thanks. Hell, I'd hand out coffee if they'd be patient.

So today, Mr. Blue Explorer Jerk can't wait another second. And he pulls from behind the bus, AROUND the bus into the on-coming traffic lane. I'm sure he checked that there was no traffic coming - but still the potential for an accident, where the bus gets walloped is pretty high.

So I called the police and filed a report. The second police report related to this address and the school bus. In October a car came up behind the bus too fast, slammed on his breaks, slid into my yard and narrowly avoided rear ending the CRUISER that just happened to be behind the bus. Sometimes the Good Lord is looking out for you. I hope he is always looking out for my kids.

7:30pm: The police called me this afternoon. I had the plate and make right. They couldn't find a phone number for the SUV owner. So they SENT A POLICE OFFICER TO HER HOUSE. The SUV owner's fiance dropped her off at work at the assisted living center across the street and HE was driving her car when he pulled around the bus. Could be one cancelled wedding soon. "You what? You pulled around a short bus? What kind of man ARE you?"


24 comments:

Stacy said...

Go Kim.

What a jerk, putting children in danger so he/she can make it to work on time.

Anonymous said...

Some folks are just simple. We had the same scenario in S. Dartmouth when our kids rode in the van, and that wasn't even a busy road. To restore your faith in humanity, reassure yourself that if that man knew the challenge you had to cope with getting your girls buckled in, I'd like to think he'd pull over to assist. I'm trying to be less cynical, can you tell?

Ps. What is the deal with all the Dunkin Donuts? All too often you can see one, when you are at the drive-thru of another. People in New Orleans could not understand that folks in New England would be crowding into DD all day long. MMmmm donut holes.....

ORION said...

Our only Dunkin Donuts closed last year.
No Krispy Kremes either.
Only Safeway.
Yuck.
I will eat mass quantities of Donuts when I go to the mainland.
I am also have empathy for the bus problem but I know my priorities.
Donuts.
Always Donuts.

ORION said...

"I am also have?"

Where did that come from?

Anonymous said...

In regard to your comment that the traffic gets backed up like a Girls Gone Wild gang bang queue, which volume of Girls Gone Wild are you referring to? I ask because some of the later stuff is very overrated, as all too often the shapely co-eds are simply "playing" to the camera, rather than engaging in the type of spontaneous, wanton sexual adventures that would make such a queue line (real or imagined) form.

Kim Rossi Stagliano said...

Harvey, has your wife been traveling again and left you alone with the pay per view?

Kim Rossi Stagliano said...

Dunkin Donuts HQ is in Massachusetts for starters. And New Englander's just love donuts. I have defected to Starbucks for my coffee but still love donuts. I thank God my DD does NOT have a drive through. It's not worth the effort to get out of the car for a chocolate frosted, but with a drive through? Tooo tempting! The folks in New Orleans kick out butts though with their beignets. Got to give them their props, eh chere?

Anonymous said...

No, wifey pooh is right here. We even watched the Super Bowl together last night. I must say that Tom Brady did not look good. A very disappointing performance on the whole.

Anonymous said...

While in New England after Katrina, we took a lot of drives in the car, very often that included Dunkin Donuts. What horrible parents you must be thinking, but Dunkin Donuts is a great place to work on "dining out" with your autistic child. Jared was enthusiastic about getting his donut holes like any other child, and he gradually learned to wait patiently while his dad was ordering for all of us. Dad has the metabolism of a tse tse fly and has to work to maintain his weight, whereas I just kept adding calories until I stopped griping about the cold.

Since Katrina, there are NO donut purveyors in the metropolitan New Orleans area, a sad occurence for our Friday donut club. Arrangements are made for donuts from north of Lake Ponchartrain to begin the arduous journey into the "recovery zone". Anderson Cooper needs to address that!

Beignets are wonderful, although I avoid them because I'm a spaz with the powdered sugar. Right now it's carival season, so it's all about king cakes. Whole Fooods make a divine cream cheese king cake. I heard of one recipe for bread pudding that substituted 2 dozen Krispy Kreme glazed for the french bread. That is a diabetic suicide, and should come with it's own black box warning.

The Wandering Author said...

Kim, I hope your police department takes this kind of thing more seriously than mine ever did. I've given up reporting anything, because nothing ever came of any of it. Not even the time a woman driving an unregistered vehicle threatened to kill my kids because I was taking a photo for evidence (of course, she was dating a cop... something I found out later).

And, yes, I'm pretty cynical. Some folks don't care about anything. Last year, we lost a Marine from our town in Iraq. The funeral procession was going through a major intersection, and one jerk pulled out of the line of stopped cars, drove down to see if he could poke through (bad idea - lots of state troopers present because of the kid's dad), turned around, and zoomed off.

Anissa said...

That's probably because he didn't play, Harvey.

Which Super Bowl were you watching?

Anissa said...

Kim - It's hard to comprehend people sometimes. Good for you on reporting him. Hopefully something gets done.

Michelle O'Neil said...

Did someone say donuts?

Grrr.....

(This goddamn GF/CF diet).

Anonymous said...

The Patriots are ALWAYS playing in the Stagliano household.

Kim Rossi Stagliano said...

Lisa, I hope you felt welcome in New England. I know many folks were on The Cape, near my mother in law. A huge change in locale - did you SCREAM when you saw the size of our crawdaddies? Steroids!

Did you know a prominent member of the National Autism Association is from New Orleans and LOST HER NEW AUTISM SCHOOL which was to open the day Katrina hit? Email me offline if you want to connect with her. I'm at string it algether: K R Stagliano at Charter dot net

And don't worry about our Harvey folks, he's a great guy who shares my offbeat sense of humor. A devoted Dad living in the autism trenches too. I hope I don't scare him off!

Holly Kennedy said...

Kim, what an upsetting post. In your shoes, I'd be livid, possibly even running full tilt down the road after the fool!! Let's hope she doesn't marry him...

Your kids sounds great, btw.
Pat at ORION sent me your way a while ago, but I've been busy with my 3rd novel and barely seem able to come up for air these days!
Take care...

Laura said...

Oh, that pisses me off, too! We live on a not-so-busy street immediately off of a busy street, so have to walk to the busy street to get the bus. While I stand on the side of the road with the boys, I'm always shocked by how fast cars go on the 35 mph road. Most are at least 50 mph. Our regular bus driver usually pulls into the street so traffic can go around, but when we have substitute drivers, they always put the stop sign out, and I've seen cars go around, too. Crazy people breaking the law! GRR! I'm just glad Hutton is now big enough to just wear a seatbelt on the bus - no more struggling to get him into a carseat as quickly as possible!

We don't have any DDs around. There's a KK within driving distance, but I try to stay away from their evilly delicious donuts. I never appreciated KK when they were ubiquitous in high school. I love those DD munchkins, too!

Kim Rossi Stagliano said...

IT's true - We have our little Tom Brady Shrine here. Mark prays for one reason and I for another altogether!

Anissa said...

As a Bears household we didn't fare too much better. Maybe in another 20 years...

Kim Rossi Stagliano said...

Anissa you can always think back to 1985 when your team smacked the Pats. Ah the Jim McMahon years.

Anissa said...

Kim, the Bears took over the household when the hubby arrived. Back then I was a Dolphins/Marino/Don Shula fan.

But about those '85 Bears...I still crack up watching the Super Bowl Shuffle.

Anonymous said...

You mean people are worried about me? That's touching. I'll make sure to think about you during my leisurely drives in my fiance's Ford Explorer. Gosh, I wish she didn't have to work so many hours at that damned senior center...

Kim Rossi Stagliano said...

LOL!

Jenny said...

For the past 10 years I lived in an area that didn't have school busses. When I moved to the east coast I drove right around the first one I saw. I was mortified when I realized my mistake - ack! Thankfully no one was hurt.