Dear person who cut in front of me in the after-school pick up line today,

What a sad day indeed to have witnessed such a calamity on this 25th day of August! I couldn’t believe my eyes when your red sedan swooped into the (very small) opening between myself and the silver van in front of me as we were inching closer to the school entrance. I honked, but you didn’t seem to notice. Perhaps I should have honked louder or more numerously than I did. Perhaps I should have gotten out and knocked on your window to let you know that you had committed a serious faux pas.

Have you ever been in a line before, dear red sedan driver? If you haven’t, I will gladly tell you how it works: first, you must take note of the end of the line (in this case, the last car in the pick up line) and then place yourself behind the last vehicle, thus yourself becoming now the last vehicle in line. Then you wait. (And wait and wait and wait some more.) As you are waiting, more cars will likely line up behind you (as is the proper way for a line to form), and then as the line moves, you will move up slowly to the front to pick up your elementary school student waiting for you.

The elementary student you picked up today has had lots of practice being in line – they were lined up waiting very nicely at the orange cone for you to arrive and pick them up. Perhaps you could ask this student how to properly wait in a line?

I admit, I did snap a picture of your car… and your license plate… as we ended up side by side in the two-laned pickup area. You didn’t seem to notice me, but seemed very focused on your steering wheel. I applaud your desire for vehicle safety (I can only assume that’s why you wouldn’t risk a glance at me.)

I also confess, that I had many ideas initially of what I could do with these pictures I obtained of your car. Post them to social media, maybe to the school district’s Facebook page? Make flyers and tape them up all over the elementary school? Make a “WANTED” sign in an old western style (that could be kind of fun!) Turn it into a meme?

It would, however, do me no good to provide you the justice you deserve, because then I would find myself becoming the type of person I don’t want to be. The fact that I entertained such vengeful ideas of reciprocation against you (as outlined in the prior paragraph) shows how easy it is to find oneself considering all sorts of evil against another person. How quickly we (I speak in terms of humankind) like to make enemies of one another!

Even more so, if I had acted on my reprehensible desires, my own son, (for whom I was waiting so patiently to acquire) would be witness to my incorrigible actions, and I daresay would begin to model these actions himself. One of my greatest tasks on this earth is to raise up my child to be not only a good citizen, but a good and decent human being – a person who has compassion on others and can forgive and love others. A seemingly impossible task, but one I must strive to achieve at all costs.

Will I make mistakes? Undoubtedly! I admit in the past I have done uncharitable things to others, yes actually acting on my evil thoughts, instead of putting them in their proper place where they belong. Perhaps there exists another open letter, of which I am the subject, unbeknownst to me.

I don’t know if you are regretful of your actions today, dear line-cutter, but I hope that maybe someday you will be. I hope that we (yes I include myself in this charge too) begin to see the other cars on the road (or in line) as actual real humans, and not just objects that are in our way. Inside each vehicle is a living being, a person with a life and a soul, and (presumably) with people who love them. And each one of these people may have had a great day, or a terribly awful day, prior to arriving to the pick up line. Why not devote ourselves to being a source of joy and light in another’s life? Why choose to be a blot on someone’s otherwise potentially lovely Wednesday afternoon?

Let’s hold each other accountable to be lights in this world.

Sincerely,

Your fellow after-school pick-upper