The Interesting Ways Back To School Affects The Childless

This time of year is always kind of weird for me.

As a kid and young adult, our whole lives' schedules are made around school and the school year.

I remember it being jarring the first year after I graduated college, realizing that the school year didn't mean anything to me anymore.

I had to go to work every day, I didn't get weeks in a row worth of time off, and my sleep schedule had to become more regular.

But even though I don't have kids, there are still ways that back to school time has impacts on my life and the lives of others like me, that we don't necessarily think about.

A good example came today when I popped out of the office to grab lunch.

I had some time around 1:45 to take a quick drive to grab something to eat before continuing on my workday. I headed down Main Street in Toms River just to realize that I'd made a terrible miscalculation.

With only a few minutes available to go, get lunch, and get back to the office, going down Main Street is not the place that you want to be at 1:45 in the afternoon.

Why?

Two words - school buses.

I sat there patiently as a steady stream of buses filed out of Toms River High School South and embarked on their afternoon runs.

Of course I could have avoided it if I'd taken an alternate route or planned my lunch a little earlier or a little later. But I didn't. And I got stuck.

It's interesting to me because families plan back to school time. They know that after Labor Day passes, bed time and wake up schedules change. Morning and afternoon routes to and from home change, and extra time is accounted for in just about every aspect of the day.

But for those of us who don't have kids, we don't necessarily think about those things ahead of time. The week after Labor Day is just another week on the calendar.

But when you live and work near schools, in neighborhoods with bus routes, and around areas where a lot of kids walk to and from school, you really do have to take these things into consideration when going about the daily activities whether school is in or out.

Whether you're childless or a multi-kid household, how does your daily routine change when back to school time rolls around? Tell us in the comments section below!

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