Yesterday, I shared how Hick had repaired the bus-waiting shack that HOS (Hick's Oldest Son) had built last year for some kids who get dropped off early at the bus stop as their parents go to work. Then I found out more details.
I asked Hick if he's the one who left part of a broken broom down there, after telling the teenage girl that the kids could sweep out the broken glass themselves, since he had replaced a window, boarded up a window, and added a door.
"No. Them kids left the broom there."
"I noticed it was gone today."
"It's inside the shack now."
"Oh, so the kids DID sweep it out?"
"No. I swept it."
"But you told them that was their job."
"I seen they'd brought that broom down there. It was laying outside because I'd put a screw in the door to hold it shut. I guess they was trying to get in. They broke my screw!"
"They didn't know! Who expects a door to be screwed shut? They probably thought it was stuck, and kept pulling on it, and it broke."
"Yeah. I guess. Anyway, I went down there to put the latch on the door. I saw the broom. Since I was there anyway, I swept it out."
"That was nice of you."
"Yeah. When that girl was asking me about sweeping up the glass, she said, 'We were going to paint it a different color, but we didn't have money for the paint.'"
"I guess she was hinting for you to paint it, too!"
"I ain't paintin' that shack! It's fine the way it is. I might go down and paint the part where I patched it, though. To protect it from the weather. Them kids oughta be glad they have that shack! Especially when it's raining. There's no place else for them to stay dry. And in the winter, it oughta be warm enough, with them all in there, out of the wind."
"You can't really blame the kids for expecting you to do stuff for them. They come by it naturally, since their dad expected you to use your tractor and gas to blade his gravel for free."
"I forgot to tell you, as I was working on that shack the other day, their dad stopped. He didn't offer to help me or even get out of the car. He said, 'Oh, I see you're fixing up the shed.' Not even a thank you."
"Well. I guess that's YOUR job, to help out his kids."
Not that Hick minds.
In our town house community, the parents all wait in the car with their kids for the bus to pick up and drip off. I'm talking about kids over 10 and the distance from bus stop to home is no more than a quarter mile.
ReplyDeleteYour shack waiting school kids are tough as nails compared to our whimps.
There are also parents in cars with other kids, the ones whose work schedule allows it. This bus comes by around 7:00 a.m. No houses are closer than a half-mile from this stop.
DeleteOne kid whose parents can't wait with him has been driving a car down there himself, since he was 11. Anything goes on a private road! He parks it by the bus-waiting shack, gets on the bus, then drives back home after the bus lets him off in the afternoon.
Expectation runs high around your way. You just know those kids are going to be the next of the "entitled" generations.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I don't expect any of them to be holding a door open for me.
DeleteYou are right about the kids learning from their dad. So sad.
ReplyDeleteYeah, they didn't know any better. But Hick seemed to get through to them about the sweeping, since they brought a broken broom!
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