Carpool

Funny things happen in the carpool lane. Here are some things that I've seen while waiting to pick up or drop off my 1st grader:

• A man drives into the middle lane where parents are allowed to park. Somehow, while parking, he mistakes the gas for the brakes and his white Escalade leaps like a leopard would his prey. Luckily he stops before hitting the compact in front of him. The man finally parks and steps out of his car. He's looking around to see how many people are laughing. He's laughing. I think it's great when a man embarasses himself and then is able to laugh it off.

• A teacher is standing on the sidewalk. She's waiting for the cars to pull forward so she can open the door and relieve the parent of his/her charge. She doesn't realize it, but the white skirt that she put on that morning was missing a vital partner: the slip. So, she's out in the sunlight and every man that I see is clearly distracted by her very visible leg lines. Oops.

• I'm sitting in line waiting for the cars ahead of me to start moving. They're going nowhere. It's release time though and I get frustrated when I can't figure out why we're not going anywhere. Then I see a car way up ahead pull out and around the car in front of him. The whole line of cars behind him follows suit and when it's my turn to pass it everything becomes clear. The man in the car is asleep. In the carpool lane. I still can't figure out why no one woke him up. A good honk would have done the trick.