The collage of people #3

The cross guard

Audience: students, particularly those in high school and middle school

Purpose: To acknowledge the hard working cross guards who prevent students from being run over by cars

It was a cold, windy morning and Nancy was standing on at the corner of the side walk. The freezing wind was hitting against her face like tiny needles. She had been waiting for about ten minuets, but no one had approached the crosswalk yet. She looked way down the street to see if anyone was coming by, but she couldn't spot anybody. She sighed, placing her red stop sign on the ground as she began to place her thicker pair of gloves over her hands.

She was a soft spoken lady with a tiny frame and had squirrel-like cheeks. Although she was quite old, there were hardly any wrinkles on her face and she looked pretty healthy. Nancy had been working as a cross guard for about a year, every single morning from eight to nine. And in the after noon, she would work once again from three to four. Since she lived just down the street form the cross walk, work was very convenient for her. It didn't seem like much of a job, but she enjoyed it because it kept her busy and she liked talking to some of the parents However, she spent the majority of her time while waiting for her afternoon shift at the parks and recs clubhouse, which was only a couple of steps away. she and a few of her other senior friends participated in the Tia Chi and various other clubs in the community center. Her neighborhood was more than just a home, it was the center of her life.

Finally, she spotted someone walking up the street. It was a middle school student, most likely a Cosburn kid. She waited until the kid came a few feet near the edge of side walk before she checked to see where the cars were on the road. There was one car travelling down the street, but it didn't even come close to being half way from the cross walk. She held her red sign out anyway and blew her whistle, assisting the student as he crossed the street. A lot of kids found her weird that way, guiding them when there wasn't even traffic, or cars for that matter. And if there were cars, she hardly let any of them pass though her until those kids crossed the road first. It was just an odd habit of Nancy's.

It's not that she thought people were incapable of crossing the street by themselves, she just wanted to be cautious and keep them company. Perhaps the reason she blows her whistle at the cars who signal their blinkers in the opposite direction because she's afraid they might take an unexpected turn anyways. She may be a bit too cautious, but it shows that she cares, and no one seemed to acknowledge this.

The student quickly strolled across the street, not even glancing at Nancy. She just watched the the kid as he continued to walk on the other side of the walkway. The cold wind continued to blow into her face. Lifting her scarf over top of her nose, she waited once again for someone else to cross. Maybe the next person would say hi to her at least.