By: Jennifer Richardson Holt
It occurred to me that I am given an opportunity every morning that many people may not have. I have a veil pulled back and I am given tiny glimpses into other people’s lives each day. I have always been an observer, so I do not know why it has taken me so long to look into this little social window to which I have discovered that I have access. When I finally did start paying attention though, I saw a little bit of everything in those early hours of the weekday and it taught me more than I anticipated. You see, each day I drive my daughter to school. And while the drive itself can be an experience, seeing the sights along the way, it is when we are waiting in line for students to be dropped off that all the really interesting things can be witnessed.
I am one of the first several in line, so I get to sit the longest and possibly see the most. There is the one little boy that is, every single day, hanging out of the truck window that is usually a car or two from me. Every morning, he has a sucker or lollipop or whatever you prefer to call it. I am not certain if this is his breakfast or just a morning tradition. As of late, he has added another course of action as there is a relatively new addition to the early arrivals. There are two little boys in this new vehicle who are apparently friends with lolly boy. The two must be brothers and they too hang from the windows of their vehicle showing a variety of things that they have with them that have varied from a stuffed animal to a light saber. Sometimes these boys are in different locations in line, but we can always find them as we can hear them yelling. A plane flew overhead just the other day and their back and forth about it and airplanes in general likely reached a mile or two down the road.
There was the day that I actually paid attention to more of my regulars behind me. I watched in the rearview mirror as a grandma read a book to her grandson who I believe is in kindergarten. She made faces and gestures and the little fellow perched on the console between the driver and passenger was enthralled. I couldn’t help but smile as she would point to pictures and he would laugh, point and reach over to discuss it with his grandpa who seemed just as enraptured in the drivers’ seat. I wasn’t entirely sure who was enjoying the book more.
My daughter has a younger friend that she played tee ball with a few years back. She is usually in the first one or two vehicles. Once we make our way up to the school she will sometimes run to our vehicle and say hello to me, then pull my daughter off to show her something in her vehicle. The days this little girl is brought by her father is her favorite. She will come bounding toward my vehicle and ask if she wants to see what she came in today. My daughter will already know but will humor her and run off to see her daddy’s big truck. They sometimes compare what unicorns they’re wearing, or the little one will show my daughter a toy she brought along. This meeting of minds happens most every day.
I almost always see those who are trying to cram in lots of last-minute preparations in line to head to school. It is very common to see plates, or sometimes handfuls, of breakfast. It could be an adult doing their best to get something down whilst encouraging their passengers to do the same. I even see teachers often walking in with their own children and plates in tow. The first meal of the day seems to be a very hectic one for many people. That isn’t the only preparation that falls at the last minute, however. I have even seen on several occasions a mother using the ole’ spit smooth method attempting to get her son’s hair sorted. He was super thrilled about it too let me just tell you. There’s been little girls in their mother’s laps that had me absolutely astounded at how effortlessly and efficiently she could have a brush fly through the mane and end up with a perfect ponytail. This is not a luxury with which I am familiar, though in-vehicle hair adjustment is certainly not new for me as my daughter’s hair is somehow, even after being fixed only 10 minutes before with all the tools available at home, beginning to fall down before she even arrives at school. Her hair is amazingly efficient at dismantling itself.
Driving along the curving driveway you see quite a variety of faces. There are moms with hair scraped up in a bun who look like they have already lived a thousand years since they awoke. There were dads that were staring off into the distance. I can only imagine what was running through their minds. I’ve seen some parents getting cuddles so ferocious from the backseat that it looks like there is a grinning two headed monster driving. You see the, well, let us say, rather heated discussions amongst family members. Sometimes it’s from the parent in the driver’s seat to offspring in the back seat, and sometimes the back seat is a war zone all its own with sibling limbs flailing. It’s best to keep an eye on those vehicles. They could very easily leave the appropriate lane or have something come flying out of a window without warning.
The events I witness have taught me a few things. Traveling down that road and winding up that elementary school driveway are hundreds of lives, each with their own trials and joys. Looking into those myriads of faces reminds me of something I saw recently talking about the very big difference in perception and perspective. What I am seeing and my thoughts upon it are my perceptions but, quite frankly, it isn’t worth very much because it’s just my view from the outside looking in. But if I attempt to look at these folks and consider their perspective, I am trying to learn and think about things from their viewpoint. I cannot possibly fathom what a morning may mean for these people. It could run the full spectrum from thrill to dread. If I’m honest, some of my daughters’ first days of school were downright horrific. So perhaps, I should, instead of being frustrated with the person who just tried to cut me off, or the loud yelling from the car behind me, I need to try to imagine their perspective. Maybe my kindness will be a bit more generous and maybe, I might even run a comb through a blonde head a little more gently while I’m at it.
Prose and Possibilities 