Bump (and now a little nostalgic for IJAG and Dools)
But woke up this morning an hour late because my phone fell under my bed and I didn't hear my alarm. Then in my haste to make coffee and a lack of sugar in the house, I chose honey, which was fine. It was fine until I decided the spout was taking too long (I was already running late for work) so I opened the top and was going to try using a teaspoon to fish it out. Good idea until the spoon was too wide for the opening leading me to just tip some out. But the goopy sludge that is honey gathered more momentum than I anticipated and got a heaping pile of it in my coffee making it sickeningly sweat. With no time for another round, I left. Waze told me to take a way I never go only to get stuck in idiot traffic and stop lights. The kind of idiot traffic where the Tesla is trying to do 80 in a 55 and the pick up is doing 35 and the Honda is trying to turn into a park-and-ride parking lot. And did I mention the damned stop lights?
Well made it on the freeway with the usual Bay Area traffic. Not the East Bay or Peninsula traffic, but everyone trying to get into Silicon Valley traffic. The stuff I was happy to avoid when we were all on lock down and I could make the drive in 30 minutes where now it's taking me closer to an hour depending on when I actually leave. Being anxious about coffee that is starting to make me nauseous the more I drink it and not getting my usual round of "God, those guys are idiots. Why am I watching this?" Get Up! fix, I start to gun it down the freeway. Even swerve into the Car Pool Lane and pray there isn't a cop sitting under the overpass waiting for jerks like me trying to get around everyone. Get to my exit, which is conveniently located just before a major interchange as everyone and their brother are also just getting on to the freeway. Aaaaand I just miss the light. I watched helplessly as the green light of hope turned yellow and finally the Dante's entrance to hell warning red.
But I got to school just fine.
However, now I'm frazzled. On top of that, it's standardized writing test day. Kids have to write an essay and we already know our usual firebrands are going to be hotheaded because they have to do all the things they hate: Sit down and shut up; not have their phones; write. On the plus side, my partner hooked me up with less offensive coffee, so I thought I was going to be fine.
*He was not fine*
So our usual jerks get going to a rip-roaring start. Walking in late. Announcing themselves loudly. Talking over everyone. All while we're trying to test. We start nicely with the telling them to get to work. Then we start getting mad. Then we start getting really mad. By the end of the first half of class, I've kicked two kids out of the room and am gearing up for more. Then comes the disrespect and the fight continues.
It's a disaster.
Kids are being rude. I'm being ruder. I'm yelling at kids who aren't in my class. It's a mess.
Finally, we just take the good ones—who by now are looking for something sharp—to another room. Immediately, the quiet makes me want to cry. Looking at all the faces of the students who actually make me want to show up everyday is very zen. They look cheated and exhausted over what happened over the last five minutes. But it's quiet. They get to work on something none of them want to do but understand they have to get it over with. I thank all of them for being patient and trying. The room is zen. My blood pressure goes back to normal and I finally catch my breath. Again, I'm fighting back the tears looking at the students who just want to learn.
It's then I realize I left my coffee in the other room.
