Not A High Schooler

So I carry this dorky lunchbag to work and I'll admit, it's silly. I'm not hiding the fact that I'm really a kid at heart (or perhaps that I'd just rather be in school again so I wouldn't have to be part of the working adult world), so bringing my Dr. Seuss lunchbag with me to the hospital isn't necessarily a shameful thing. Instead, it's just a quirky little piece of what helps to demonstrate the kind of person I am-- a fun, lighthearted dork. Plus I've had it since high school and I don't feel like purchasing a new one when this one is perfectly fine. But that's besides the point.

(Here's the bag in question... cute, right? Look, just below the bag on my shirt,
there's even a date-- 1999. That's a tee shirt I got in high school, too.
I guess I really am stuck in the past!)

Anyhow, nobody has ever said anything to me at work about my lunchbag, so either noone has noticed, or the rest of my coworkers think my bag is the coolest thing ever. Well that, or I'm so much of a turd that they wouldn't dare to comment on it. Either way, since the day I started, I've happily brought my multicolored sack to the hospital for weeks without a single comment.

But yesterday, something strange and new happened. Well, it's the beginning of September, so naturally it's back to school time. The only part about back to school time that has any influence on me really is the school bus-- there's a bus stop right in front of my house, so I need to figure out a time when I can leave just before the bus arrives so that I don't get stuck behind it and risk being late for work. Not a huge problem-- just takes a little observation and a little juggling. So yesterday morning, as expected, I left my house for work around 6:40am, but just as I was about to get into my car, the school bus came barreling down the hill. I didn't consider it really, besides thinking that I should plan on getting out of the house a couple of minutes earlier in the future.

This, however, wasn't the case for the bus driver-- he clearly wasn't thinking anything like "Oh, here's a person who's trying to get to work right when I'm arriving at the stop in front of her house," because instead, he was apparently too busy thinking "Oh, here's another dorky kid with a dorky lunch bag. I'd better stop to pick her up for school." So he did-- he flat out stopped the bus and opened the door, waiting for me to get in.

To be honest, I was kind of shocked... and definitely embarrassed. Plus I didn't really know how to react, so I just lowered my eyes, backed away towards the house, and let the bus drive away. But after he left and I got into my car, I think the full meaning of the event hit me-- I looked like a kid because I was carrying a kid's lunch bag (not to mention I take along a back pack to work with all my crap in it), so the bus driver stopped to take me to school.

Ha!

I guess that should teach me-- if I want to be seen as a grownup, I have to dress like a grownup. And if I want to be seen as a kid, I should dress like a kid. Well... ahem. Bring on the kiddy gear!