Does The School Drop-Off Lane Have To Be Torture? [Block Talk Survey]

ACROSS AMERICA — The way it’s depicted in pop culture, the most challenging thing for parents about school starting up again is surviving the school drop-off and pick-up lane.

“Scary Mommy” blogger Samm Davidson calls it “the place where all adult sanity goes to die.” A Texas mom’s tuck and roll carpool line tutorial emphasized the importance of quickly exiting the car. An Arkansas mom said her husband “loses his religion every afternoon” when he picks up the kids.

Most school districts have strict procedures for drop-off and pick-up lanes. School drop-off lane etiquette is fairly universal with a few simple rules: keep the line moving, don’t linger over goodbyes, don’t double-park, don’t cut in line and stay in your car.

But there are always a few miscreants who think of themselves and their convenience above all else. Among them are people who otherwise obey the rules of the road until they get to the school drop-off lane, where they “cut people off and double park in a furious and frustrated rush to ensure their kids’ timely school arrival,” Scary Mommy wrote.

And if that behavior isn’t bad enough, some parents escalate the situation by yelling, cursing, gesturing or even getting out of their cars to play dropoff lane traffic cop.

What’s up with that?

What do you think? And what’s the worst — or the best — behavior you ever saw in the dropoff lane?

We’re asking for Block Talk, Patch’s exclusive neighborhood etiquette column. Just fill out the survey below. And no worries, we don’t collect email addresses.

Editor’s note: This survey closed on Friday, Aug. 16. Thanks for participating!

About Block Talk

Block Talk is an exclusive Patch series on neighborhood etiquette — and readers provide the answers. If you have a topic you'd like for us to consider, email beth.dalbey@patch.com with “Block Talk” as the subject line.

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