You Started It!
Last Friday I was a field trip chaperon for my triplets pre-school class. We were scheduled to go to a nature preserve in Riverside. I didn’t even know we had one. If you’ve ever seen Riverside, there’s nothing “natural” about it. Hell, we don’t even have A RIVER!
I got there early, like I was supposed to, so that I could receive instructions from the teacher in charge of the field trip. She is a no nonsense sort of person, takes her job very seriously, as she should. She handed out papers with information, directions and a list of do’s and don’ts for us to follow. As I read she addressed the class.
“And,” she said, “this is very important. Will the parents please refrain from leaving the caravan on the way to the Nature Preserve and going through fast food restaurant drive thru windows, because this causes confusion for people following and we don’t need that sort of thing.”
Now, I had rushed that morning to get all of the kids ready for the field trip and made sure they had everything they needed, the right clothes, lunches, snacks, drinks, and they had breakfast. I suddenly realized I hadn’t.
“Ummmmm”, I thought, “Breakfast sandwich sounds goooooooood.”
I wasn’t even hungry, until she mentioned it. Hadn’t thought about it at all, but, SHE made it so that it was all I could think about!
We loaded the kids up into the vans, buckled them in, and we were on our way. The caravan wound its way through the city, stopping at lights and stop signs. It was very slow going. Then, on the main street in downtown Riverside, we sat at a very long light.
I glanced to my right and there it was, Carl’s Junior, one of my favorite hamburger joints.
“Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm, sausage breakfast biscuit gooooooooooooooood, ” was all I could think about.
The traffic wasn’t moving. I was right next to the entrance. I already knew my way to the Nature Preserve. So I went for it.
“Dad! Where are you going?” said one of my kids.
“Daddy is just going to make a quick stop.”
All my kids in unison said, “DAD!”
As I turned into the Carl’s Junior I looked into my rear view mirror and, sure as SHIT, two cars turned to follow me!
“WTF!” I thought, “What the Hell!? Are these people Lemmings?”
The lights changed, traffic started to move and the cars that followed clogged the traffic as they realized their mistake and tried to merge back into traffic. I was already at the window ordering so I laughed and got my sandwich.
When I made it to the Nature Preserve she was waiting for me, shaking her head.
“Mr. Dadlez,” was all she said.
“Hey, you started it!” was my reply.
