Washington School Days: 10. The Safety Patrol*

                         Steven L, Safety Patrol Captain

Dear George,

Like at all schools, kids at Washington Grade School enjoyed differing levels of social status among their peers.  However, one of the few formal social positions available was that of Captain of the Safety Patrol.  There was a girls’ Captain and a boy’s Captain, both appointed by Miss Guimond.  Safety Patrol members – all sixth-graders – staffed the main street corner before and after school and at lunch, watching for cars and holding out a flag to escort the smaller children across the street.  Helen O. was the Captain of the girls’ patrol, and I had the honor of heading up the boys.

 

Safety patrol members wore a badge and a white belt and chest band to make them more visible to motorists.  The Captain had a special badge, larger than the others.  Captains made up all of the assignments for the traffic guards, kept records of who did what, and kept the ship running smoothly.

 

Like most positions of authority, being the Safety Patrol Captain was not all peaches and cream.  Though Captains enjoyed special recognition on the part of the establishment (i.e., Miss Guimond), peers treated it less deferentially.  Helen’s girls were cooperative for the most part, but I felt I was dealing with a pack of fledgling criminals.  In particular, after the first week of patrol duty in September, the novelty of guiding first-graders across the street wore off, and most of the boys under my authority decided that it was more fun to play football than to stand at attention on the street corner.  Since I enjoyed the glory of being Captain, they decided, I ought to be the one to do the work as well.  Jerry D. was the first to abandon his sacred duties, and he warned me not to tell Miss Guimond or else.  I began covering Jerry’s shift.  His chums shortly followed suit.  Within a matter of days I was doing one hundred percent of the boys’ guard duty. 

This seemed unfair to me since it was my football that everybody else was playing with.  I threatened to leave it at home, but, since nobody else’s parents would buy one, this proved to be an idle threat.  Might makes right on the playground, and I acceded to my classmates.

 

Late in the fall Miss Guimond asked to review my records of the Safety Patrol assignments.  Since I’d been the only one on duty most of the time, I hadn’t kept any records.  Miss Guimond scolded me for shirking my duties, and I vowed to improve.  From then on, I made up fake records, inserting the names of the various football players while I covered their assignments.  Being in charge of things, I learned at this early stage of life, isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.

Love,

Dave

*Pseudonyms used in this story

G-Mail Comments:

-Linda C (5-19): Love descriptive blog. Sorry to say I would have been one of the children to have left you in the lurch.  maybe Jayme can tell you her safety patrol story.  Was picture you or your bro?