Runover, Retainers and Refuse, Oh My!

Safety is a big part of our responsibilities when it comes to the children - especially on the playground. Today, Safety decided to challenge the lunchlady and I'm happy to say the lunchlady prevailed!

I was on the blacktop with approximately 20-25 students when I noticed a white truck coming towards us on our newly paved path. I immediately began blowing my whistle to alert the children, at the same time trying to assess whether the driver would stop when he reached the end of the drive. He stopped (phew). Then proceeded ONTO the blacktop full of children and turned his wheel in 3-point fashion, then continued to back up TOWARDS the kids who were playing handball and unaware of any danger. I was now face to face with the passenger side of his truck. While STILL blowing on my whistle, I was about to hit my fist on his passenger window when he put the truck into drive and nearly ran over my feet! He turned again, this time returning down the path he approached on (only after leaving tire tracks in the grass). I quickly radioed the office to report it but haven't heard anything back on that. I walked around for a few minutes feeling like that actor in 'Airplane' when he kept saying 'I sure picked a great day to quit ______' (fill in the blank) LOL.

So fast forward to the end of my shift and we're wiping down tables when a 5th grade girl returns to the lunchroom to announce she had lost her retainer and thinks it got thrown in the trash! Poor Mr. 'B' - his job description never ceases to amaze me. Since my own son just got his braces off and I know how expensive these retainers are to replace, I donned a pair of handy-dandy blue rubber gloves and began sorting through the day's trash. It was only after I had gone through a third of the food and muck when she informed us that this was a CLEAR retainer, no metal whatsoever. 'Okay guys we're searching for a CLEAR item amongst all of this!!' Believe it or not I found it in my bin. I washed it and warned her NOT to wear it until mom was informed of it's near demise.

My lucky day?? I think so!