OcalaMom.com

Well I was told by the convenience store manager to move my car this morning, why you ask...because "you can't park here!" I'm a mother of an elementary school child that goes to Hammett Bowen, her bus stop is at 90st and 27th ave, shes 6 years old and shes not alone! Do you know that the only other place for us to go to is the "NO Where bar??" yes that's right a BAR! The only other place for us to park is a BAR.(of which I have to mention DOESN'T COMPLAIN AT ALL). We are only parked there for 10-15 min in the morning and there is another entrance for everyone to get in and out. I would love to know how this convenience store could put our childrens safety above a parking issue?? That's pretty bad when a convenience store says your child is being an inconvenience!!! Please voice your opinion.

Question:
What action should be taken ?

Choices:
Tv Media to speak with the owner/manager
Move bus stop to the bar
Keep bus stop at convenience store
Boycott the convenience store
Ocala Star Banner to put in there paper

 

Well I'm about to fly into the face of adversity here...I'm sure I'll get booed and hissed at but oh well.. We all can't agree all the time right? But nonetheless here goes....

I'm sorry but I can actually see the other side of the arguement here. The convenience store owner and personnel have a right to ask you to move. If you're not there to frequent the store and buy something then why should you take up a parking space for someone who would frequent the store and buy something?

I don't know what time your daughter leaves for school and I understand that she is 6 and you would NOT leave her alone at the bus stop (and if my daughter were 6 I wouldn't leave her alone either). But you must consider that the convenience store is open early in the morning to make money and I somehow doubt that the bar is open that early in the morning (and if the bar is open I doubt there would be a high influx of traffic). So what's the problem with parking in the bar's parking lot (if they don't complain) for the 10-15 minutes that you are there?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Summers Mom,

I put my son on at the same bus stop. The major issue that we are dealing with is that this is not the parents or the students who are at fault. It is that of Marion County School Board. I could understand the why the lady would come out and yell at us. It is a very conjested parking lot even without the 20 kids they have getting on at that stop. We live in a country where we have stopped advertising of smoking and drinking in our major sports. we do not want to influnce our children that it is "THE COOL THING" to do. But our school board thinks it is OK to drop our kids off at this location. My 7 year old son says he gets on and off the bus at the bar. WAY TO GO SCHOOL BOARD. Not only that we have precious little minds riding the bus with kids over double thier age talking how this person is "gay" and making out. Exactly what i want my 7 year old starting his day to. hey lets go catch the bus at the bar and find out who is gay today. that is an education.

1- A business is NOT a public service, it is trying to make money. The convenience store has every right to make you move.

2- Maybe you should get a little exercise and WALK your kids to the bus stop and STAND there with them. OR talk to the bus driver and meet them and the next stop. There may be more parking there.

As a mother , it is one of my duties to protect my child/children. I want to believe that everyone who has children believe the same way and it is hard for me to see the reality of it...and that is that they don't. The truth of the matter is that if it's YOUR CHILD is in a particular dilemma/problem then you are quick to defend however ..if it's the OTHER CHILD who has the issue it's hard to see the positive side and instead jump at the chance to find fault with the victim.. and make no mistake the victim IS THE CHILD. The child relies on its PARENTS to stick up for them , and I'm assuming of course that if you are on the ocalaMOM.COM site that you HAVE CHILDREN. To be more clear on the subject , our neighborhood is nice as well as the area, it just so happens that we live near a convenience store and bar and this is where the MARION COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD PICKED THE BUS STOP, there are 2 entrances to the convenience store and we are on the one LESS TRAVELED and off the main road, and DO NOT interfere with the traffic of which drives off the main road ,straight into the FRONT of the gas pumps and the FRONT DOORS to the convenience store. The convenience store is making there coffee money every morning , we do not get in the way. We are off to the side on the curb. ***FYI- RED The Marion County School Board shortened all of it's routes due to the GAS ISSUE at hand and that is why so many people HAVE TO DRIVE INSTEAD OF WALKING MILES TO THE NEXT BUS STOP, not to mention we have people with health issues that MUST use a car. So EXCERSING as you put it so el·o·quent·ly would not be an option and those who can walk,. DO WALK! So before you start judging and posting comments of criticism , please ask a question ,..we don't mind and that way you have all of your facts straight, but oh well.. We all can't agree all the time right??? Who takes the child by the hand takes the mother by the heart.
- German proverb

This message has been edited. Last edited by: TAROVA,

I would like to start off by saying I am a single father. I am also going to school full time at CFCC in Ocala. On days that i do not attend school I WALK. That however is only 2 days a week. Even though the stop is 3/4 of a mile away from my house. As far as the bus stop being moved myself as well as many other parents have been complaining. You see where it has got us..... right here.On friday on the way home my son put up his middle finger and asked me what it ment. i asked where he saw that and he replied some of the big kids on the bus were doing it. As a father that never had anything growing up I do everything i can to provide my son with everything I never had and prevent him from everything I had to go through. Now thier are certian things we can and cant control. This is one we can. We want our children to grow up with morals. now there is nothing wrong in some folks eyes with dropping there kids off at a bar. When i was a child my mother brought us to bars all the time. that is where my problem lies. ITS NOT OK! Couragous pepole stand up for something they know is right. cowards do nothing.

Although I no longer have school age children, I do live and work in Ocala and I care about our children.

I do agree with all arguments posted, however, the strip of convenience store parking lot that most parents park on shouldn't be an issue and during the times of drops off and pick ups, there are very few bar patrons. I work in an establishment at that intersection and I'll admit that I was mortified when it dawned on me that parents were having to pick up their children on the outskirts of the bar parking lot.

Having said that, though, I think your concerns are misplaced. What everyone should be concerned about is that intersection in general. It is extremely dangerous. Too many people coming from either side on 27th Avenue, on 90th Street, don't feel like they need to stop at the stop signs and people traveling on 27th Avenue tend to drive entirely too fast. I have witnessed a prime example of that not too long ago when a pick-up truck traveling on 90th Street broadsided a car on 27th Avenue because they refused to stop at the stop sign. Too many times I hear people travelling on 27th Avenue honking at people having the audacity to slow down before turning onto 90th Street.

Children will be children and will play and have a strong tendency to forget that they are on, or near, a major road. I was a child once, so I know. Alot of people are too self-important to realize that there are alot of young lives at stake. If the county moved the bus stop just a block west of that intersection, all problems should be solved.

Good Morning to all,
I notified the Marion County School Board and the School Board Dept. of Transportation on Sept 15,2008 ,the day of the actual incident. I spoke to a Jim and he gave me a work order number. Said that a field rep. will be looking into the issue at hand. Of course I will be looking into this matter on Sept 22 to get an update to the situation as they now have had a week and hopefully some answers.
Keep your fingers crossed.

Sorry if this post comes off as a little bit defensive but I feel that some of us are being attacked for no reason at all.

I still stand by what I said. For someone to be so condescending and assume that I as a parent don't protect my child is asinine. You don't know me or my child so therefore you have no right to assume or accuse me of not protecting my child.

Now being accused of not seeing the whole issue and not defending the child/parent who has the issue is petty and harsh. I DID see the whole issue and even put myself in the other parents shoes. If it were my child I would have no issue as to where the bus stop was as long as my child got on and off the bus SAFELY! If my child commented on where his/her bus stop was then it is up to you as a PARENT to explain things to YOUR child. If you don't like the way the school board is doing things then put your voice to work for you and complain. Complain every day if you have to (I just thank God that I won't have to put my child through this crappy school system that is in place here since I'll be moving soon). And if there is a problem with where your kids get on the bus then DRIVE your kids to school or WALK them there.

Now to another issue.... Everyone complains about how horrible it is to use a bar parking lot as a bus stop so your telling me that you'd rather park in the convenience store where they do sell BEER and CIGARETTES? Guess I must missing something here.

We are all entitled to our opinions and when it comes to the well being of the child/children I just guess some of us have a different ideas on parenting,how they should be raised and what type of environment/surroundngs they should be around, and that's ok.
As I previously posted(above your post), The Marion County School Board and Department of Transportation is fully aware of the situation due to ME USING MY VOICE and COMPLAINING and is sending a field rep out to determine the best place for the children in the morning AND afternoons.
I'm happy that you are able to move your child/children "Out of this crappy school system" BUT for those who have to stay... I will continue to raise the issues of safety and concern for the children that are still here and hopefully provide some insight as well.
Good luck on your move .
Thank you to OcalaMom.com for letting me VOICE my opinions and complaints regarding this issue. It has been truly helpful and enlightening. AGAIN keep your fingers crossed and hopefully The Marion County School Board has a gameplan to implement tomorrow .
"Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence."
Helen Keller

i belive all views on a situation are vital. if they contadict each other that is how you solve problems. one block over to 89th street would be great the kids would get on at bert medows place. or even down by the cut road between 89th and 90th. The traffic is the major issue as well as our childrens lives. personally i dont like the store or the bar. i perfer the store over the bar do to the fact that there are not drunks leaving the establishment. we need to keep on the school board. I have other issues as far as the buses this year but i am willing to met the in the middle on some things. next year my son will not be in a public school. i am gonna start looking at private schools in january. sorry if i came off as attacking anyone. thats not the case. i just want to make the mulitiple issues known.

Dadofaskaterboy , I called the field rep and left message on voice mail this morning regarding the 89th street idea and Burt Meadows stop. Sounds like a winner of an idea to me. They however do have over 600 cases they are working on regarding bus issues, so who knows how long this could take. Just hope all works out for all families involved.
Once we get the bus stop issue resolved , we can work on the different age group issue if you like. I'm not sure if the bus aide sits in between the age groups or not. We need to check this out.

On a side note...Just remember all of this when you are voting in November. Those in office now that are running again, are the ones who are or aren't listening to your concerns. They are cutting back on teachers, teacher assistants, social workers, etc. Yet we still pay our school board members a salary rather than letting it be an elected VOLUNTEER job like many other states. WE also have 2 deputy superintendents that "help" run our school system at a very high rate of pay. Not to mention 2 former teachers who now act as our "energy gurus" by telling county schools when to shut off lights, air conditioning, and computers. Oh, and then there's Kevin Christian. I believe his official title is "spokesperson" for the school system. All of these paid jobs were not cut when the budget was decreased. However, many bus stops were eliminated. Just a little food for thought when you go to vote in November.

Thanks alot for all of the info boogsoup. Great to know!

I walk my kids to the bus stop every morning, rain or shine. Every morning the other parents drive their kids to our stop. Parking all down in the street and in the neighbor's grass leaving their engines on burnning big brown spots on the edge of the lawns of folks who don't even have kids in school.
For the most part it is because they are out of shape and lazy. They can't walk a city block if their lives depended on it. The same people that will circle walmart's parking lot for a half hour to save 30 feet of walking.
Some poor souls are bound to a wheelchair or even bed for life, wishing and praying for any chance at all to be able to stand or walk ever again... And most others are too lazy to walk, even just a short block to a bus stop. Don't blame the store, blame your lazyness and diet cokes.