Don't get ahead of me now. I know that you're probably thinking that the hazards of working at a crosswalk probably involve the cars, right? Well, while I did have a close call once with a charter bus, mostly the traffic isn't what I worry too much about. The drivers quell at the sight of my big red stop sign, after all! (I love power!)
Nope, it's the unexpected little things that tend to be dangerous. Well, dangerous is probably a little dramatic but, hey, it's all relative. Take my stop sign for instance. The other day I was just standing there waiting, and started swinging the thing because......well, because I have a hard time being still. There! I said it! Bob's always known it and now I'm admitting it too! Anyway, there I was just swinging that stop sign to beat the band and WHAM!! the thing hit me in the knee! Ouch!! I limped around for a full day and I'll bet the drivers passing by tried to stop laughing for a full day!
Another hazard at the crosswalk happens to be a harmless and unobtrusive little storm drain that I park beside. Over the years I've learned how to handle the thing but there have been episodes. Like dropping my stop sign in it. Later that day Bob had to go retrieve it. I've also dropped a flip flop down there. It was about halfway through the afternoon session so I ended up completing that work day, walking around in the middle of the street, with one shoe off and one on. Needless to say Bob let that one go. Man, where's his sense of adventure??
Once when I pulled up early one morning I heard the faint but definite cry of a kitten. Sure enough, there it was, stuck down in the storm drain. It just so happened that that year one of the parents that drop off a child on my corner worked for the city or somebody and had a ladder on his truck. He was kind and took the time to take the lid off and climb down into the drain to save the little kitty. Who says firemen are the only kitten saving heroes?
So despite the fact that I risk my life every day to heroically guide these defenseless little school children across the street I will continue to do it in my humble and unassuming way, taking on the hazards of the crosswalk!
