Not, not a pedophile or a gun-wielding disgrunt. In this case, it was the mayor of Bayou La Batre. Y’all remember Bayou La Batre–that’s the fishing village Tim James wanted to build a fake fishing village in, but Hurricane Katrina put those plans on hold. Anyway, the mayor was driving behind a school bus, and the little shits precious children who are our future were littering exercising their normal childish high spirits, and something cracked the mayor’s windshield. So he turned around, flashed his lights to get the bus driver to pull over, boarded the bus, and lectured the kiddies on the dangers of littering.
Reaction from the school system? “We oughta have his ass arrested.” Yes, it seems that no one other than the driver and the schoolchildren is allowed to board the bus—they even have a sign by the door to that effect—so now officials are “investigating the incident.” It’s up to our lame-duck superintendent, who will be leaving in January, to decide what action to take against the mayor, actions ranging from “an arrest for trespassing to a letter of warning to Wright and the Bayou La Batre City Council.” Oh yeah, and they’re also going to look into the actions of the driver, who was going 44 in a 25 mph zone, and the school principals will handle any disciplinary action against the students.
Okay. I know we can’t have enraged mamas climbing aboard the bus on a daily basis to bitchslap whoever has been picking on their kids. But geez, the freakin mayor doesn’t have permission to holler at them? Proper procedure is, he’s supposed to write down the bus number and then call to report the incident. Yeah, that’ll be effective. I don’t know, but seems to me when the mayor gets his windshield broken by unruly schoolchildren, and has what I consider a reasonable reaction, the school system’s first response should be an apology, not a threat. And speaking as a mama who is occasionally enraged, I don’t like the idea of being told that I’m not allowed to enter any space that my kids are in, with the possible exception of an operating room. (My kids don’t ride the bus, though. To be blunt, they’re afraid to.)
Kathy, you slay me! Loving the common sense and humor in this post.
But wait, there’s more! I really have to start watching the local news.
I love the way the outraged parent puts finger quotes around “mayor.” Um, lady, it’s not a nickname. Y’all elected the guy. I can’t help it if he calls his truck his VEE-hicle.
Sansou, I’d love to take the credit, but it was Del.
Del, you know what bothers me most about this? The kids, who should have had the bejesus scared out of them right then and gone home to additional lectures (at the least) from their parents, will now feel all justified and righteous that the adult got into trouble.
I understand the rule limiting who can get on the bus because the driver doesn’t need to spend his/her time confirming the identity of random people who might want to board, but as you say, geez, the freakin’ mayor ought to be able to instill a little civic responsibility in a bunch of unruly kids.
Thanks, Sansou
“the kids… will now feel all justified and righteous that the adult got into trouble.”
Exactly. The school system is always whining because parents back up their misbehaving kids instead of reinforcing the teachers’ discipline at home, and this smells like the same thing. Even if the principals make a halfassed attempt to punish the kids, the focus is on the mayor’s illegal action.
To be fair, though, I seem to remember this particular mayor has a history of pulling stunts like this. Although you think the media would have mentioned it in this story.