Crisis at the Bus Stop

Newsletter 2024-01-19

The northern hemisphere has entered another ice age, and my family is not handling it well. Wednesday, my kids almost froze to death waiting for a bus that almost didn’t show up. If it hadn’t finally arrived a full thirty minutes late—on top of the two-hour school delay—I didn’t have a plan b. I’m stranded at home without a vehicle. Mine is in the shop getting three thousand dollars worth of repairs thanks to a thoughtful hit-and-run driver who didn’t see my parked van when it jumped out and attacked him. There’s never a good time to lose your wheels, but an especially bad time is in the middle of the snow apocalypse. In life, anything that can go wrong will go wrong, especially when it’s cold enough outside for snowmen to freeze to death. Meanwhile, our house is battened down like we’re preparing for a zombie attack. The windows are covered, the rooms are dark, and the pets are confused. I’m already over winter and it’s only the middle of January. I’d like to formally apply to move the entire state of Indiana somewhere warmer. Attach us to the tip of Florida. No one will even notice we’re there.

The bus incident was the worst crisis of the week.