School Crossing Guard Day: Fill & Download for Free

IgnoranceA child attempted to cross a four-lane highway while walking to school. The crossing guard was in the middle of the street and had traffic stopped. As the child was crossing a car goes around the stopped traffic headed right at the child. At the last possible second, the crossing guard reaches out and grabs the child by the collar of their coat pulling them to safety. The speeding car came close enough; it struck the handheld stop sign the crossing guard was holding.Local news crews learned of the event from a newspaper report, and the following day a TV news crew wanted to do a story on the incident. I met with a very positive upbeat network news person. I spent the day with him taping an interview, introducing the crossing guard to him and pointing out the area where the near tragedy occurred.The story ran that night, which included part of my interview. It was only about thirty seconds long, but it showcased the crossing guard as a hero, which she was. It was also a positive story about our city, which was extremely rare. Usually, TV coverage of our city came after a homicide.The day after that news story aired, a competing news anchor and TV crew showed up and came to my office. This news anchor said she was there to follow up on some stupid human interest story about a crossing guard.She obviously didn’t watch the first story, or she would have known how insulting her comments were to me and our hero crossing guard. I advised her she should meet with the mayor who had an office across the street. The mayor wasn’t even in, but she didn’t know that.As soon as she left the building, I informed my Lieutenant that she was at the mayor’s office. I also said I wasn’t feeling well and wanted to use some comp-time and go home, which I did.I was later told, she learned of her mistake when she came back to the department looking for me. No interview was ever given nor did her story ever air.I still see that ignorant newswoman acting sweet on the network news, and I have been known to throw stuff at the TV.

I work in a New York City public school, and yesterday as I walked past the building (which I haven’t been in for three months) I stopped to chat with one of the crossing guards who was there on duty. Through we wore masks and kept our distance, it was great to see her again, and we had a lovely chat.The reason she and another crossing guard were working is because that school — along with many other public schools across the city — offers a free meals program to anyone who is struggling to put food in the table.At my school, they have a system set up where the kitchen staff prepares a large paper bag that contains breakfast, lunch, and a snack. Anyone who comes can take as many bags as they need for their family every day. It’s a community program, so it’s available to everyone, regardless of whether they have kids in the school, and anyone can take advantage of it who needs it. And they closely observe safety precautions: There is strict social distancing, only two “customers” are allowed in the cafeteria at one time, and they simply walk in, grab their bags, and walk back out.Since the school has busy intersections on either side of the building, the school crossing guards are there to assist anyone crossing at that time, regardless of whether they’re going to to the school or not.

When our youngest son, now grown, was in 8th grade, he called me one afternoon from the school office. That’s enough to make any parent’s blood pressure spike. Everything was fine, he just needed a certain T-shirt for some after-school art project he was working on. Breathing a sigh of relief, I quickly found the shirt and was about to jump in my car and head to the middle school when I saw our faithful dog, Jenny, sitting there with a dog’s intelligent and hopeful expression which says, “Hey, you are taking me along, right?” “Okay, girl,” I said, “come on.” I grabbed the leash and we headed for the car with Jenny prancing around my feet.We arrived at the middle school during that hectic time when school is about to be dismissed for the day and the road by the school is lined with cars driven by parents waiting to pick up their kids. My son was to meet me by the school door, and Jenny and I hurried over and handed off the shirt. We then headed back to my car. We came to the crosswalk, and were motioned across the street by the crossing guard, a short, stout, stern woman named Barbara whose main redeeming quality was that she loved children and she took that crossing guard job as seriously as an army general – perhaps more so. Just as we reached the other side of the crosswalk, nature called for Jenny. There on the sidewalk, Jenny squatted down and did her business, and it was the big job. Jenny was a medium-sized dog, and she left quite a pile there for all the world to see and for anyone who came along to step in.I was mortified, partly because Jenny had pooped on the sidewalk, but mainly because I had nothing to clean it up with. Barbara the crossing guard only looked bemused, but I noticed numerous parents sitting in their cars and watching to see what would happen. Suddenly, I was struck with an inspiration. Jenny and I sprinted to my car and I hurriedly opened the trunk. Thankfully, I found a plastic grocery bag, perfect for cleaning dog doo off the sidewalk, and we sprinted back to the scene of the poop crime.I put the plastic bag on my hand like a glove, a skill honed from years of dog duty practice, and deftly picked up every last dog turd. I then stood triumphantly, for all onlookers to witness, withdrew my hand turning the bag inside out and tying it off with a flourish and ready to deposit in the nearest receptacle. Honestly, I was half expecting people to get out of their cars and give me a standing ovation. Instead, stern-faced, crossing guard Barbara walked over to me all smiles and said, “I knew you would come back and do that.”“Why, thank you, Barbara.” I replied. My respect for her grew tenfold that moment and from then on it always seemed like we were the best of friends.Jenny, September 1998 - December 9, 2008. RIP ol' girl - we miss you.Sorry, but I do not have a picture of Barbara the crossing guard.