To the Car....

To the car that almost ran me over today, I just want to say that I love my life, I would like to keep on living it, I have two children & a husband who need me to stay alive, therefore please stop at the big red stop signs that Carrie & I are both holding up.

Not only were you in the wrong line, but then when I motioned for you to move forward to me, & point/motion for you to stop at my stop sign, if I wouldn't have jumped backwards, you would've run me right over! And there were witnesses. Many, many witnesses! Carrie (the one holding the other stop sign), James, who was walking with a big orange cone parallel to you, the car coming out of the school that almost got hit because you didn't stop, & the woman standing at the crosswalk waiting to cross, not to mention the security cameras that are rolling all the time outside of the school.

Miss, I suggest that the next time you see a big red stop sign, you actually stop. Would you have hit me, you're family would sure be missing you because you would've been fried!

~Anneliese

Hump Day! & Happy Veteran's Day

Good morning & Happy Hump Day!!

Today was a very weird morning! We had all kinds of things going on & not all of them good! Let's see, where should we start.

To the people who pull a u-turn right in front of the school, you can't do this! Number 1, it's a school zone during drop off! There are hundreds of people going in and coming out of the school. The possibility of you causing an accident is pretty high especially during these peak hours! Number 2, there are  people who are waiting in line. They may not be right there at that moment, but the crossing guards a few feet in front of you have stopped them to allow the walkers to cross the street. Don't be rude & cut in line of those people who have been waiting. Number 3, you may not know this, but the sheriff has asked us to get licence plate numbers of the offenders and send them to her, which I did to the gentleman who decided to pull a u-turn this morning. We know who the other offenders are, so we will be getting those numbers as well. So if you see one of the crossing guards with a phone in her hand, we are not chatting away or texting, when our phones are out we are using the cameras to catch offenders.

What makes this morning's u-turn incident a bit funny is that after I got a picture of his licence plate when he came out of the school he rolled down his window & commented on our cool (camel) hats. Carrie & I looked at each other & agreed that he probably saw us get his licence plate number & was trying to sweet talk us. It didn't work, pal!

We had another person sitting in the carpool line & must've waited there a bit because she was in it! At the very last minute, she decided to go straight as cars were coming out of the school. I had to quickly stop her to avoid an accident & then advised her the flow of traffic in the morning. She was a bit embarrassed, but I bet she doesn't do that again.

We had a mother decide to drop her child off right at our crosswalk! Pulled right up to the crosswalk & stopped, then let her child out of the car who immediately started to cross the street while cars are coming out of the school! Carrie kept asking the child to get back onto the sidewalk, but he stayed standing right in the street! She spoke to the mother & advised her that she cannot do this that she needs to either get in the carpool line or go to the pool & drop them off there. Her comment back to Carrie, "Oh, we were just running late this morning." Sorry, if everyone did that it would be mad chaos every morning! Why do you think that the rules don't apply to you? The funny thing about this is that we still had a steady stream of cars going into the school. She wouldn't have been late.

On a positive note, it is Wednesday so the camels make an appearance! In fact, in honor of Veteran's day, George (my camel) was sporting an American Flag. We had a gentleman stop behind us, roll down the window, and say, "What's up with the camels?" We yelled, "It's Hump Day!" He laughed & said, "Of course!" We also had a woman roll down her window and say, "I feel every big of Wednesday already this morning, but seeing you guys & your hats, it always puts a smile on my face." Then our dear friend Kim made some comments that I am not able to put here, but if you use your imagination about camels, I'm pretty sure you can guess what she said. ;)  But they made us smile. Those happy comments, & people waving & laughing with us, that is what makes this job fun. It is what you make it, right?

And we have not forgotten the Veteran's out there. Thank you for all that you do and have done for our country. We appreciate your service & the price that you paid for our freedom!

~Anneliese

Impending Rain Makes You Forget

The skies were quite dark today with the threat of rain, so we were all in our rain gear waiting. Ms. Ricks announced that she was going to open the kindergarten wing for drop off as well, but I'm not sure that that actually happened. But she did start the drop off line super early this morning, before everyone was there & before the safety patrol were in their spots. She started the cars rolling at about 7:45! Made for a long morning! But I think the impending rain may have made people forget what certain things mean...

I know that in front of the school there are not two specific, marked out lanes for traffic flow in the morning & afternoon, but there is a sign indicating to form a right lane to turn into the school & a left lane for through traffic. If you see that sign, & you see the flow of traffic, why would you sit in the lane that isn't moving if you need to go straight.

Today we had at least 5-10 cars in the wrong lane, so we think that they are turning into the school, but at the last minute try to go straight. Then they roll their eyes, throw their hands up in the air, & everything else when we have them stop because we are allowing the school traffic out of the school.

And I also think that some people forgot what the big red thing with the word "stop" on it, that we hold up in the air, is. We can be standing right in front of the cars, with our signs up, & people will still keep moving without stopping. A man today did just that. I pointed at my sign because through traffic was coming, & he rolled his eyes at me & shook his head. Okay, dude. You can go, but I'm not responsible when this truck coming hits you.

Also, there is one gentleman who insists on doing a u-turn in front of the school to avoid having to go around to get into the carpool line. I do believe the sheriff needs to see that one! But the thing is, she was sitting about 100 yards away, facing the other direction. I wonder if he would've done it if he had seen her.

And to the impatient man walker, who makes underhanded comments about having to wait, please... Here is my stop sign, feel free to stand out here & do what we do for one morning. Watch for the tags, watch for the people who don't follow the rules, the people who don't stop, & everything else. We are sorry if you have to wait for one minute as we clear out traffic, but dude, would you rather us keep you safe or get you across the street fast?

Sorry for the complaints. It's early dismissal today so I'm sure there will be lots of yahoo's this afternoon who don't normally do pick up. We shall see....

Have a fabulous day!!
~Anneliese

My Little Friend in the Green Car

A lot of our posts are pointing out what went wrong, or how people react or do certain things. Well, I want to mention something that happens each morning that puts a smile on my face. 

Every day there is a Katy ISD employee, a dad, that drives through the front of the school to drop his child off in the staff parking lot. The windows are usually down, & we all wave, & are polite.

One day the boy in the back seat has his hand out the window but is looking toward the school. The car is going slow & I reach out & tap the boy's hand. Cara was with me at the time, & she started laughing like crazy! She said that I had scared him & the look on his face was priceless!! 

Now every day as they drive by, his little hand is hanging out the window waiting for me to high five him, with a big smile on his face! Honestly, I look for him each day! It brightens my morning & I know he gets a kick out of it too. Carrie has now started it as well, so he is double lucky! 

Thank you, little boy in the green car, for helping to start our day out a little bit brighter!

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Have a great day! 

--Anneliese

Why?

I guess we all have our pet peeves. Well, I have a huge one in my crossing guard world. It is very chaotic & a mess in the morning & afternoon in front of Wolman Elementary. Cars turning right everywhere, people trying to turn left, people crossing in the crosswalk, honestly, just chaos!

I am all for people walking, jogging, running or whatever. But may I ask, why would you decide to run right in front of the school during drop-off or pick-up hours? Honestly. I really would like to know this. There is not a crosswalk in the driveway of the school. There are cars coming in, there are cars going out, yet people run/walk/jog right there! It really does mess things up. The two crossing guards out front are directing traffic & people in four different lanes. We have to leave our positions to come stop traffic where we don't normally stop traffic, just so that these walkers/joggers/runners can cross where they aren't supposed to. This could be a disaster! For the jogger/walker/runner if they decide to go without our help, for the cars turning in & out for having to stop where they aren't looking for a crossing guard or don't normal stop, & for the crossing guards nerves at avoiding an accident. It just really makes me nervous.

I would have two suggestions. Either walk/run/jog before or after the drop-off/pick-up times to avoid the traffic, or else walk/run/jog somewhere else other than in front of the school. Cross the street at N. & S. Firethorne & walk/run/jog behind me! On the opposite side of the street. You won't have to worry about traffic there. Firethorne is a huge development, I'm sure other routes would be fine.

If you know anybody who is guilty of this, please mention this alternative. It would really help.

Thanks & have a great day!!!