I am so exhausted right now, and it's largely because I am still worn down from our big field trip yesterday. I was just thinking last week about how something might go wrong, when I read in Alayna and Sacha's blog about Sacha's recent field trip transportation woes. I have never had good luck with my district's transportation department, since they are really bad at following instructions and giving out information (they actually get kind of secretive when you ask if buses have been confirmed for a trip... they don't exactly give me a lot of confidence in their abilities!). Two years ago, I actually had it out with the woman in charge of the department... I was so fed up with them after that whole experience that now our school secretary always deals with them. (strangely enough, the woman I was so annoyed with has a kid at my school, and he's going to be in my class next year. yippee...) Anyway, if you want to read the long version of the story (which I had to write up for my principal today), click here. But to summarize: A trip that should have taken two hours ended up taking four-and-a-half when our bus was stopped at a highway patrol checkpoint and found to be unsafe to drive (a tire was so bald that the steel treads were visible-- the driver received not one, but FOUR tickets for four different violations). By the time we got to our destination, it was just about time to turn around... And going both directions, the driver had no idea where he was going or how to get there, and spent 90% of the time talking on his cell phone while going a million miles an hour. To top it all off, I had a student start throwing up repeatedly on the ride home, causing me to gag and nearly start vomiting myself. Then I had to get her cleaned up, which was not at all enjoyable. Oh, such a fun day! The part that stinks the most is that I planned the entire field trip, MY class has done the bulk of the fundraising (as usual), and MY students' parents have put in the majority of the man hours to make all our fundraisers successful. And my students (and their parents, and me) were the ones on the messed up bus who suffered the most, while the other kids from other classes had a slightly-less-crappy experience. Sometimes, I guess, life really isn't fair. My kids learned that lesson the hard way yesterday. I have to give them credit, though, for really being troopers throughout the whole ordeal. They were so quiet and well-behaved while sitting at the highway patrol checkpoint for nearly three hours. Gotta love them for that!
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Worst. Field trip. Ever.
Subtitled: Why I dislike hate my school district's transportation department
I am so exhausted right now, and it's largely because I am still worn down from our big field trip yesterday. I was just thinking last week about how something might go wrong, when I read in Alayna and Sacha's blog about Sacha's recent field trip transportation woes. I have never had good luck with my district's transportation department, since they are really bad at following instructions and giving out information (they actually get kind of secretive when you ask if buses have been confirmed for a trip... they don't exactly give me a lot of confidence in their abilities!). Two years ago, I actually had it out with the woman in charge of the department... I was so fed up with them after that whole experience that now our school secretary always deals with them. (strangely enough, the woman I was so annoyed with has a kid at my school, and he's going to be in my class next year. yippee...) Anyway, if you want to read the long version of the story (which I had to write up for my principal today), click here. But to summarize: A trip that should have taken two hours ended up taking four-and-a-half when our bus was stopped at a highway patrol checkpoint and found to be unsafe to drive (a tire was so bald that the steel treads were visible-- the driver received not one, but FOUR tickets for four different violations). By the time we got to our destination, it was just about time to turn around... And going both directions, the driver had no idea where he was going or how to get there, and spent 90% of the time talking on his cell phone while going a million miles an hour. To top it all off, I had a student start throwing up repeatedly on the ride home, causing me to gag and nearly start vomiting myself. Then I had to get her cleaned up, which was not at all enjoyable. Oh, such a fun day! The part that stinks the most is that I planned the entire field trip, MY class has done the bulk of the fundraising (as usual), and MY students' parents have put in the majority of the man hours to make all our fundraisers successful. And my students (and their parents, and me) were the ones on the messed up bus who suffered the most, while the other kids from other classes had a slightly-less-crappy experience. Sometimes, I guess, life really isn't fair. My kids learned that lesson the hard way yesterday. I have to give them credit, though, for really being troopers throughout the whole ordeal. They were so quiet and well-behaved while sitting at the highway patrol checkpoint for nearly three hours. Gotta love them for that!
I am so exhausted right now, and it's largely because I am still worn down from our big field trip yesterday. I was just thinking last week about how something might go wrong, when I read in Alayna and Sacha's blog about Sacha's recent field trip transportation woes. I have never had good luck with my district's transportation department, since they are really bad at following instructions and giving out information (they actually get kind of secretive when you ask if buses have been confirmed for a trip... they don't exactly give me a lot of confidence in their abilities!). Two years ago, I actually had it out with the woman in charge of the department... I was so fed up with them after that whole experience that now our school secretary always deals with them. (strangely enough, the woman I was so annoyed with has a kid at my school, and he's going to be in my class next year. yippee...) Anyway, if you want to read the long version of the story (which I had to write up for my principal today), click here. But to summarize: A trip that should have taken two hours ended up taking four-and-a-half when our bus was stopped at a highway patrol checkpoint and found to be unsafe to drive (a tire was so bald that the steel treads were visible-- the driver received not one, but FOUR tickets for four different violations). By the time we got to our destination, it was just about time to turn around... And going both directions, the driver had no idea where he was going or how to get there, and spent 90% of the time talking on his cell phone while going a million miles an hour. To top it all off, I had a student start throwing up repeatedly on the ride home, causing me to gag and nearly start vomiting myself. Then I had to get her cleaned up, which was not at all enjoyable. Oh, such a fun day! The part that stinks the most is that I planned the entire field trip, MY class has done the bulk of the fundraising (as usual), and MY students' parents have put in the majority of the man hours to make all our fundraisers successful. And my students (and their parents, and me) were the ones on the messed up bus who suffered the most, while the other kids from other classes had a slightly-less-crappy experience. Sometimes, I guess, life really isn't fair. My kids learned that lesson the hard way yesterday. I have to give them credit, though, for really being troopers throughout the whole ordeal. They were so quiet and well-behaved while sitting at the highway patrol checkpoint for nearly three hours. Gotta love them for that!
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4 comments:
Oh my god, that sounds like the worst field trip ever!! We're just glad you're all okay. Sacha sends her horrible field trip sympathy and now feels much better about her experience last week :) We read the long version and hope you get your money refunded. Those drivers should seriously not only be fired but really shouldn't be on the road at all!
countdown BEGIN! I have 10 days!
Mary, your school must end the same day mine does. Thank God! I don't know how much more of this I can take! :P
Hey Briar, that totally sucks! The barf part sounds like the worst. Isn't it amazing with teaching how we can get the best and the worst days all in one week??
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