#549 School field trip day

Neil Pasricha

It all starts with the permission slip.

Yes, when teachers send them home before the bell rings so parents can rubber stamp the bumpy yellow bus trip to the museum, then it’s on, my friends, it’s on.

Soon the days count down and the buzz builds up as the class gets ready for the day away from school. The middle-ages unit wraps up at Medieval Times, paintings are handed in before the art gallery, and everyone mails a friend a letter before the tour of the post office.

On the morning of the big day you wake up with some extra pep in your step because you know we’re all going far away. It’s time to skip the portables, soggy sandwiches, and long afternoons with the Spanish teacher.

It’s time to do something different.

It’s time … to go for a ride.

Yes, whether it’s the petting zoo, chocolate factory, or a long hike in the woods, it’s time to enjoy the school vacation with some of the following perks:

1. Subs in the house. Taking thirty screaming seven-year-olds to the planetarium is a bit much, so most teachers call in backups in the form of parent chaperones. These subs act like a sweet and sweatered army of substitutes and don’t know enough names or have enough power to mess up the fun. Of course, that’s assuming they’re not your mom or dad. If that happens, your day is done.

2. Wheels on the bus. They go round and round on the way there and back. Yeah, we all gang rush into the slippery seatbelt-free seats and enjoy a loud, laughing party on wheels. There are loud screechy songs, secret makeout sessions, and some friendly gestures at passing motorists. This is also when the classroom’s social structure is on display too — from the cool kids at the back to the nerds sitting with the teacher up front. I really did love sitting up front though. I mean, how about that view?

3. Sealing it in. A friend and I were strolling quickly through an art gallery a couple years back when we stumbled on a group of kindergartners holding a rope and looking at splotchy art paintings. I’ll never remember the jaw-dropping look of pure head-tilting amazement from the little boy at the end of the group — eyes twinkling, mittens hanging out his winter coat, and his whirring brain soaking and swallowing up something beautiful on the wall. And it’s true: field trips often help seal in the learning. Chalk one up for school.

So… let’s enjoy the memories, let’s enjoy the moments, and let’s enjoy the parking lot speed bumps. Yes, let’s all love those special days when dusty chalkboards fade away and buses wheel us down the freeway, far away, far away, far away.

AWESOME!

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Photos from: here, here, here, and here

2,210 thoughts to “#549 School field trip day”

  2. When the air host/hostess is smiling during the safety instruction presentation and EVERYONE knows it’s because of the funniness of the theatrics.

  4. When your judgemental stereotypes get shattered.

    I was walking into the bank the other day and a teenaged boy got to the door ahead of me. He was dressed in the fashion of the day- baggy jeans, ball cap and hooded sweatshirt, hood up. I caught myself thinking he was “the usual hoodlum” -pun intended- when he surprised me by opening the door for me. I was actually stunned for a minute. I finally entered and said “thank you”. He politely said “you’re welcome” and went on his way. It put a smile on my face for the rest of the day. It also chastised me for judging him in the first place.

    1. I love this so much that I actually start singing Geggy Tah’s Whoever You Are when this happens…
      All I want to do is to thank you, even though I don’t know who you are. You let me change lanes, when I was driving in my car….

  9. The Internet.

    Thanks to the Internet, I can now do many things that I could not do 20 years ago:

    -Read magazines and the newspaper for free. (No more fetching wet newspapers out of the shrubs!)
    -Shop from the comfort of my living room. (Thank you, Amazon.)
    -Talk to friends across the world at no extra cost. I can even talk face to face! (Thank you, Skype.)
    -Settle a dispute instantaneously. (Thank you, Google.)
    -Watch movies and television for free with fewer commercials! (Thank you, Hulu.)
    -Buy songs individually (Sorry, one-hit-wonder producers.)
    -Play my favorite board games even if nobody at home wants to play with me (I’m looking at you, Scrabble.)
    -Get step-by-step directions to my destination in an unfamiliar part of town before leaving my house. (Thank you, Mapquest for initiating it and thank you, Googlemaps for improving it.)
    -Give you an immediate audience to share whatever is on your mind and simultaneously learn from others’ points of view (Thank you Facebook, Blogspot, Twitter, and 1000 Awesome Things!)

    The Internet is truly

    AWESOME!
    (Thank you, Al Gore.)

  13. When it’s finally warm enough to wear flip-flops. After a long cold winter, having free feet with sun warmed toes is awesome!

  14. When you come up with “the perfect quip.”

    I’m not really a witty person at all, so the few moments when a brilliant bit of wordplay or pun comes to mind and I spout it out to general applause and laughter is definitely AWESOME.

  15. When people you have a strictly professional relationship with insert a random smiley in their email to you – just because.

  16. Getting the highest score on a test is usually pretty awesome :)

    Especially if it totally takes you by surprise because you thought you did badly!

  18. The tiny smily at the top right of the page on 1000awesomethings.com.

    It is awesome every time you look at it, because it’s an unexpected smily that always seems to make my day. :)

  20. BANANAS!!!!
    1) awesome cool intense yellow color!
    2) no need to wash!
    3) fantastic peeling mechanism!
    4) beloved by all kinds of symians!
    5) no core to leave behind!
    6) goes well with any dessert!
    7) overall BANANALICIOUS!!

  21. Watching movies from your childhood and realizing they are just as good as you remember

  22. When popcorn is popped PERFECTLY! You put that bag of popcorn into the microwave, hit “popcorn” and hear all the kernels going “Pop, pop, poppity pop, pop, pop” The timer goes off, you carefully pull that bag that is literally popping at the seams out by one corner, pour it into a bowl, expecting to find full kernels or half popped kernels at the bottom. But no, somehow the microwave managed to pop every kernel perfectly, no random kernels, no burnt popcorn. AWESOME!

  23. Getting rid of a wedgie without anyone noticing. After dealing with the uncomfort for so long, you’re able to manuver your body in just the right way and no one even notices your suffering. Following is silent cheers and a sense of accomplishment. AWESOME!

  25. Postcards. They are short, requiring just a few lines of “Weather is great, *location* is beautiful, wish you were here, be home soon” but you get to make someone smile at their mailbox and let them know that even though you’ll probably be home before they get it, in the midst of an amazing vacation you were still thinking of them.

  26. Warm freshly printed paper! Makes me just want to hug it and harvest all the warmth out of it.
    Awesome!

  28. Weighing your suitcases at the airport and discovering they are below the 50 pound weight limit! This is particulary awesomely satisfying after a semester abroad, or a longer trip when y ou purchase gifts and souvenirs.

    1. Giulio.. this must be at least the third time I’ve seen you post this! You must really like this! :)

  32. Vacation pictures. When you’re home from vacation and realize you’ve taken over 500 pictures from your trip. Going through each one knowing that there are a few you can delete and realizing that each one brings back a memory you don’t want to forget. And then making people who didn’t go sit through each of those memories with you.

  33. The feeling you get right after you book a flight.

    You’re all set, ready to take off and get out of this town!

    AWESOME.

  34. Looking at old pictures of people you don’t know.

    You can look at them and dream up the reasons why they were in the picture, what they were doing, and what they were thinking!

    AWESOME

  36. #549 When you hear someone’s heartbeat after crying

    Nothing is more comforting than receiving a hug after you have just cried for hours. Your ears up against their chest cavity, hearing that mighty organ beating is the most relaxing thing.

    AWESOME!

  37. Do we only enter our comments for the book draw on the #549 entry or will the comments for other pages be counted as well?

    1. Only comments on this page (#549) will count towards the book draw.. But after this week’s contest ends on Friday, there will be another one next Monday!

  38. When you’re driving up to a red stoplight and it turns green just as you are about to step on the breaks. You think you’re going to have to stop and wait for 5 minutes, but then, fate intervenes.

    AWESOME

  39. Finishing a trilogy of your favorite movies in one day (Godfather, Back to the Future, Indiana Jones etc.)

  40. Being with a group of friends and laughing so hard that you snort. The snort starts everyone laughing all over again, things start to die down and all you have to do is make eye contact and the laughter begins all over again.

  41. The monday morning email from your boss saying that they are staying home sick – AWESOME!!!

    Great way to start the week!

  42. When you wake up, you check your clock and you see you’re really late. You get desperate!! Few seconds later you realize that’ s is saturday, and you sleep again.

    AWESOME!

  43. This is kind of a companion piece to #787:

    #549: Springing Forward and Getting an Extra Hour of Daylight

    As someone who works in a warehouse all day with no windows, I really appreciate when we set the clocks forward each spring so I can still enjoy a few hours of daylight when I get off work. It makes me feel like I have so much more time to get personal things done before it’s time to go to sleep and start all over again.

  44. When I wake up to the sun shining outside… and I know it’s going to be a great, sunny, shiny day!
    That’s just AWESOME :)

  45. When a family member/friend wins the battle with cancer. Its so awesome to know they will be with you another day.

  47. Figuring out the ending to a movie before anyone else!

    This just happened to me on Friday while seeing “Remeber Me.” It was pretty awesome to have it figured out before the audience said, “Oh!” in unison!

  48. I have a few.

    1. First rain in a long time.

    Just that feeling in the summer, or after a snowy winter. The first, real rain hitting your roof and the thunder in the background is pure relaxful bliss.

    2. Getting to go home.

    After a long day of school, work, or other long day activities, it feels great to just walk in and have that feeling of “Ahhhhh. Finally home.”

    3. Unexpected Surprises

    Whether it’s a dollar in your blue jeans, or a surprise present from your loved one, the ones you didn’t expect are the best.

    4. Rewards

    After much hard work, not feels better to get paid or get that thing you’ve been working for.

    5. Finding exactly what you need.

    No need to shop around for hours. You walk into the store, and BAM. What you need is right there for a low low price.

    6. Winning

    After all that hard work at practice and such. To finally win your basketball/baseball game feels like all those sweaty hours of practice were worth it. Awesome.

    I’ll have some more later.

  49. When you have to do some manual work that doesn’t require a lot of concentration, but is still boring and takes time to do, you just put your favorite album, the one with songs you know all the lyrics and sing along super loud. You don’t see time passing and the job is done with a happy mood!

  50. Your birthday is the day of the launch of the “The Book of Awesome”, and you can get it as a gift in Brazil :)

    Awesome!!

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