Thoughtless Drivers Honking Heightens Hurt

Without a doubt, we live in a selfish, self-centered age. Should we expect anything less when advertising pounds us from the moment we see and hear to buy things that please us, make us look and smell better.
Last week, a group of men of from the First United Methodist Church of Court House joined to build a handicap ramp in Goshen.
While we took a break from the heat and labor, we chatted with the single mother whose grand-mother will be residing in the adjacent house, and for whom the ramp was being made. Her daughter, a sweet child of nine years, has a handicap, and although she can walk, it takes time.
She told me that, since her daughter was small, when the school bus from Special Services School District would pull in front of the house, and traf-fic had to stop, there is always some impatient person honking their horn.
She was nearly in tears when she told me how much that selfish act hurts her. It seems to under-score every school day that her daughter will never be like other girls, who can run and jump. Since her sweet daughter, who is almost always smiling, must wear braces, and cannot run to the bus. She must take time, and drivers seem to enjoy harass-ing her by tooting their horns.
Such a seemingly minor, thoughtless act of road outrage by a driver truly grates on this mother. She certainly has enough cares, worrying about her daughter, without someone adding to those con-cerns by a meaningless honking of a horn.
It is understood that some drivers have even dis-regarded the red flashing lights, and zipped around the stopped bus, underscoring their ignorance. Makes you think, “Where are the cops when you need one?”
If this happens to one mother and child, it cer-tainly must happen in other communities of Cape May County. Many children with a handicap can-not swiftly board a waiting school bus. If you are ever behind one of those stopped school buses, before hitting the horn, which will have absolutely no effect, other than make a mother, grandmother, or father resentful and sad, think how you would feel in their place.
I know that’s a difficult thing, since it means placing someone else before ourselves. It takes someone who realizes the world does not revolve around them, but that they are a tiny cog in the overall scheme of things. Tooting a horn at a handicapped child is not the way to puff up one-self.
While on the subject of school buses, in a few short weeks (Sorry students, vacation is drawing to a quick close.) those big yellow vehicles will again be lumbering along the highways picking up school-bound pupils.
For heavens sake, act like an adult behind the wheel. Put down that cell phone. (Illegal though it may be I daily wish I had a buck for every Chatty Kathy and Yammering Herman blatantly flaunting the law by talking on a cell phone.)
Pay attention to the road. If there is stopped school bus with red lights flashing and “STOP,” sign hanging out the left side by the driver, do what it says, stop. It’s the law.
Ask any school bus driver you might know just how many times careless drivers either totally ig-nore the stop alert, or drive around the bus as it picks up children.
If you are a parent who accompanies your child to the road, three cheers for you. Be the child’s eyes and ears. They may be taught safety in school, and you may underscore the need for safety at home, but sometimes children are more engrossed in something other than watching the road for mindless drivers.
Drivers, hurtful as it may be, when schools open, like it or not, school buses will be a part of the driving equation. Factor that in, and don’t leave five minutes before you must arrive some-where. Add a bit of extra time for school bus stops.
Finally, place yourself in the shoes of a parent with a handicapped child. How would you feel if you were trying your hardest to get on that school bus and some mindless person kept honking their horn to make you go faster than you could? It’s my bet you would not appreciate it one bit.