Val Ventures Out to Dip a Toe Into the Irony Pool

You know how these days schools practically roll the students in cotton batting, surround them with bubble wrap, sit them upon foam cushions, and feed them a diet of whole-wheat nonfat no-sugar no-salt no-peanut nutrients? And how the insurance man declared Val's classroom a danger zone because there was a TV on a cart that was not strapped down? (Which to Val kind of says that now instead of getting hit with a falling TV, kid, you're going to be whacked with the metal cart as well).

Yep. Doors locked, buzzer needed, nobody gains entrance to our fortress without approval. No smoking on the premises. Nobody rides a bus home with a friend without parent permission. No short shorts, no tank tops. Nobody left unsupervised anywhere, anytime.

Guess what The Pony and I see on the way home several times a week. Go on. Guess. I'll give you twenty questions. Here's a hint. And another. It's in three different school districts we pass through. Concerns athletic team practice. Have you got it?

STUDENTS RUNNING IN THE ROAD, SOME SHIRTLESS, BREATHING AUTO EXHAUST, TOTALLY UNSUPERVISED BY AN ADULT!

Yep. Cross country or track practice.

For the kids we don't care about, I suppose. It's like shipping an egg to Spain, all cushioned and buffered in the crate, and then unwrapping it and laying it on the cobblestone streets of Pamplona during the second week of July.

I'm not real sure, but I think this might just qualify as IRONY.