I recognize that my job can be quite difficult and that there are plenty of misplaced souls out in the world who really shouldn't be teaching, yet are. It's not that I feel that I am one of those people exactly, but there are moments when I wonder if I really am doing the best that I possibly can since my job is a pretty important one and I certainly don't want to be responsible for effing up America's youth. But then there are times, like this particular moment that I'm about to share, when I start feeling pretty darned pleased with the professional me.
So, it's the end of the day and I'm waiting in line to use the one working copy machine in the building. Dan, a thirty-something history teacher who I used to team with a few years back, is waiting in line in front of me. Dan's nothing if not verbose, so he starts chatting me up while we wait and it comes out that we're both going to be out of the classroom tomorrow - me for a curriculum meeting, and he to fake sick so he can go hunting. You see, not only is Dan rather loquacious, but he is also unnecessarily honest; for instance, he once sat down at the staff lunch table and admitted, without anyone inquiring, that he was eating some unknown kid's sack lunch that he found on the floor in the hallway of the school. (Which is almost as disgusting as the time he started eating a large piece of summer sausage that had been left unrefrigerated for almost two weeks. He claimed it was fine, though, since he had cut off the moldy end piece.)
But back to me feeling good about being me. To the best of my memory, Dan's interminable end of the conversation when a little something like this:
Yeah, I'm going to be "sick" tomorrow. We're going to be gettin' up about four to drive all the way up to H--- and go turkey huntin'. As it is, I'll need to be in bed by eight or I'll be wrecked tomorrow. It wouldn't be so bad if I weren't so hungover. Yeah, a bunch of my buddies came over last night to throw some horseshoes - we had the spot lights on so we could play in the dark - and, I didn't mean to but I guess I got pretty drunk. (Slight chuckle) My wife was pretty pissed because I guess I passed out in the field around two in the morning and she had to come out and get me. Ha! You know, as I was driving in this morning I tried practicing my turkey calls but I realized that I was still a little drunk! Yeah, today was rough. I tried to sneak in a nap during my planning hour, but you know how kids are. They kept knocking on my door wanting to make up tests and stuff, so I ended up having to shut off my lights so I could snooze a bit. I just hope I'll be good by tomorrow morning. It's going to be a long one...I might have to be "sick" on Friday too! You know how it is...
(Actually, no, I don't know how it is, but, yep, I am feeling pretty smug right about now. As usual, thanks to Dan for the self-esteem boost.)
So, it's the end of the day and I'm waiting in line to use the one working copy machine in the building. Dan, a thirty-something history teacher who I used to team with a few years back, is waiting in line in front of me. Dan's nothing if not verbose, so he starts chatting me up while we wait and it comes out that we're both going to be out of the classroom tomorrow - me for a curriculum meeting, and he to fake sick so he can go hunting. You see, not only is Dan rather loquacious, but he is also unnecessarily honest; for instance, he once sat down at the staff lunch table and admitted, without anyone inquiring, that he was eating some unknown kid's sack lunch that he found on the floor in the hallway of the school. (Which is almost as disgusting as the time he started eating a large piece of summer sausage that had been left unrefrigerated for almost two weeks. He claimed it was fine, though, since he had cut off the moldy end piece.)
But back to me feeling good about being me. To the best of my memory, Dan's interminable end of the conversation when a little something like this:
Yeah, I'm going to be "sick" tomorrow. We're going to be gettin' up about four to drive all the way up to H--- and go turkey huntin'. As it is, I'll need to be in bed by eight or I'll be wrecked tomorrow. It wouldn't be so bad if I weren't so hungover. Yeah, a bunch of my buddies came over last night to throw some horseshoes - we had the spot lights on so we could play in the dark - and, I didn't mean to but I guess I got pretty drunk. (Slight chuckle) My wife was pretty pissed because I guess I passed out in the field around two in the morning and she had to come out and get me. Ha! You know, as I was driving in this morning I tried practicing my turkey calls but I realized that I was still a little drunk! Yeah, today was rough. I tried to sneak in a nap during my planning hour, but you know how kids are. They kept knocking on my door wanting to make up tests and stuff, so I ended up having to shut off my lights so I could snooze a bit. I just hope I'll be good by tomorrow morning. It's going to be a long one...I might have to be "sick" on Friday too! You know how it is...
(Actually, no, I don't know how it is, but, yep, I am feeling pretty smug right about now. As usual, thanks to Dan for the self-esteem boost.)
Labels: professionalism, summer sausage, turkey calls
1 Comments:
Oh, Dan. It's amazing how that one conversation so accurately captures his personality. (And that makes me feel better, too. Although I was sleepy today, at least I wasn't hungover and more concerned about being "with it" for turkey hunting than for teaching! Thanks!)
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