Weekday mornings are very busy for US middle school students. When your school doesn't have a bus, and you live too far away to walk, you need a carpool (拼车). A carpool is a group of people sharing the responsibility (责任) of driving to school in the morning. There are usually four or five kids in a carpool and their parents take turns to drive the kids in their cars.
Someone's car smells like wet dogs. Some kids get to eat desserts (甜点) for breakfast and some parents shout so much that all you try to do is to stay quiet and go unnoticed. When your mom or dad drives the carpool, your classmates get a close-up look at how strange your parents can be. It might be your first sociological (社会学) study and your first time to work with others.
Teamwork is really important in the carpool because nobody wants to make everyone else late. It's a great lesson in responsibility. Imagine (想象) sitting in the car outside of a classmate's house, watching the clock and counting the seconds. Then you start to understand how your carpool friends might feel when you are still inside the house at 7:48. You really begin to learn all your real life lessons just moments before the start of school—in the carpool.
