This slice is part of
of the March Slice of Life Challenge on Two Writing Teachers! #sol26. I’m slicing every day in March. Thanks for stopping by!
I always feel late on my way to work. I think it’s because I wake up with a hopeful plan that has to keep changing. Depending on the day, I leave somewhere on this continuum:
I’ll leave before 7! I’ll get so much done this morning! I could even have time to stop for coffee for us and get work done!
I’ll leave right at 7, and there’s still time before the coffee line is too long!
Okay, I’ll leave at 7:10, no coffee but still at work to do some work.
If I leave before 7:20, I can still do the one thing I need to do before the kids arrive.
If I leave right at 7:30, I won’t get stuck behind that school bus.
If I get stuck behind that school bus, I’ll just have to do my best.
Go with the flow, Ona.
Recently I came to an intersection, and watched a college student run to a bus stop. I looked at the bus stop where the bus rocked a bit, and I worried this was not going to go well.
The way I invested in this story…
I watched him run.
I watched the bus start.
I watched him slow down as he realized that he was not making this particular bus.
I wondered what the bus schedule was. Would he be able to make his class on time? Does another bus come soon enough? Will his professor understand?
My empathy might need a check up.
This week it happened again, at a different bus stop.
I saw a college student running. He hopped on the bus, but then I noticed, as I was going through the roundabout, another student, farther away. He was running too, even faster. His backpack was bouncing and he was determined! I looked in my rear view mirror as I passed the bus, hoping to not see it drive away yet, knowing the student was too far away.
I watched him run.
I watched the bus remain.
I can’t tell for certain, but I think that bus waited!
I think that student got on the bus.
The last thing I saw through my rear view mirror was the bus still there, and the runner disappear behind the bus.
It really gave me hope that day.
On a Thought 
I love your timestamped list. It made laugh! THen your notices of those characters trying to catch the bus! Your strong empathy for others comes through as you envision their day because they miss or make the bus. So much can happen when we arrive at just the right time or not. Glas YOU are here writing this month!!
You captured all the emotions and feelings first connecting with and then sympathizing with those students running to catch the bus and hoping, against hope, that they will make it. I was exhausted just reading this!
This post and practice reminds me a little of Monet and his haystacks! The daily timestamp is a fascinating study or the subtle differences– I love that as a concept.
And on a different but related note, isn’t is wild how a couple of minutes can throw off a day?
For some reason, I thought when I retired, my morning timeline would not be as up in the air as it was every day. That has not proved to be so. I figure out what time I need to be at the school – not what time they pay me to be there, – how long it takes me to drive there, and work backwards from there. Just a few minutes seems to make a big difference in how smoothly the entire morning goes. I appreciated the glimpse into your morning!
I wish you a week of easy wake ups before a nice spring break! Happy March to you, thanks for inspiring others in many ways.
I feel the same way about being on time! My anxiety makes me show up to places early, but I guess it has a loophole when it comes to school! It doesn’t help that I live on the same street as work haha so I can really stroll in last minute if needed. Sometimes I just need those extra few minutes of quiet at home before the chaos starts. I love how invested you were in those college students! You should write a short story depicting what you think happened afterwards.