We spend a lot of time at our jobs. In many ways they are like a second family. In my case more like a dysfunctional second family. Although, I have to say that when June rolls around, things always seem to get more heated, and we are itching for the year to be over. Sometimes even tempers flare.
It reminds me of what it might be like to be a fisherman. Together on the boat for months on end, and then several months apart. Summer vacation is our equivalent. The fact that my department, Men's Phys. Ed., are in the same office is probably the reason we bond, but also get on each other's nerves at times. Fortunately however the women are in a separate room on the other side, because it keeps us from fighting with them too.
I believe anthropologist Helen Fisher got it right when she said, "Men and women fight differently. Men punch you in the face, women stab you in the back." because we might be rude to each other, but unlike some of the Phys. Ed. women in the past, we do not run to the principal to complain about colleagues. We usually try to handle things in-house.
Most recently we also had an incident that was equally serious. When I went to school two weeks ago, I noticed an ambulance in front of the building. I found out later that an assistant principal was taken out of the building because of an allergic reaction to either fish or peanut oil and could of died, but fortunately had access to an epi-pen. What's fucked up about the story is that the police found evidence of oil on her phone, desk, and chair.
Someone attempted to hurt her deliberately. A teacher was suspected of committing the crime due to a bad review, but since no one actually saw her do it, she is still there, and while under suspicion continues to teach.
The reason I bring up these stories is because thus far our department has been UTR (Under the raidar and rarely gets into trouble, because we are in such close quarters all the time, think seamen on a submarine, and are constantly watching and listening to what everyone is saying/doing. If you slip up even a tiny bit the people in our office never let you hear the end of it. How in the world can we be truly controversial? You say or do something wrong in our office, and within a hour or so a picture illustrating your misstep is on the bathroom door with a funny caption, and there have been too many to count.
A Few Memorable Moments:
The shirt: We were recently offered a chance to buy polo shirts with our school's name and logo on it. I didn't buy one because I have a few already, but Little P. put his name down for an XL. No one even noticed until it came out, no pun intended, that he ordered a woman's XL.
"P.," we asked with a laugh. "Why did you order a woman's XL?"
"I like wearing woman's clothing." He stated matter of factly.
"What?" I said. "You mean like dresses and lingerie?"
"No," he said defensively. "They are just cut better for me." (Little P. is also nicknamed 'Skinny fat boy' very skinny but has a pot belly.) He has also been mistaken for Justin Timberlake.
We all laughed at his answer regarding the shirt, and said derisive things about his masculinity. And of course within minutes department store pictures for lingerie started to go up on the bathroom door with captions like "Little P.'s holiday shopping guide, etc.…"
Caribou Queen: Another time P. started to sing a song. He was convinced it was called, "Caribou Queen." We all said to him. "No, It's Caribbean Queen." by Billy Ocean. He looked at us with confusion, but after we all started singing "Caribou Queen." He laughed and agreed we were right.
Life Lesson 96: One thing I've learned from teaching or any other job for that matter is that you have to like what you do., or at least like some of the things about your job, and make sure you can laugh a lot. because remember what Mark Twain once said that one should "Make your vocation a vacation and you will never work a day in your life."
I believe anthropologist Helen Fisher got it right when she said, "Men and women fight differently. Men punch you in the face, women stab you in the back." because we might be rude to each other, but unlike some of the Phys. Ed. women in the past, we do not run to the principal to complain about colleagues. We usually try to handle things in-house.
Most recently we also had an incident that was equally serious. When I went to school two weeks ago, I noticed an ambulance in front of the building. I found out later that an assistant principal was taken out of the building because of an allergic reaction to either fish or peanut oil and could of died, but fortunately had access to an epi-pen. What's fucked up about the story is that the police found evidence of oil on her phone, desk, and chair.
Someone attempted to hurt her deliberately. A teacher was suspected of committing the crime due to a bad review, but since no one actually saw her do it, she is still there, and while under suspicion continues to teach.
The reason I bring up these stories is because thus far our department has been UTR (Under the raidar and rarely gets into trouble, because we are in such close quarters all the time, think seamen on a submarine, and are constantly watching and listening to what everyone is saying/doing. If you slip up even a tiny bit the people in our office never let you hear the end of it. How in the world can we be truly controversial? You say or do something wrong in our office, and within a hour or so a picture illustrating your misstep is on the bathroom door with a funny caption, and there have been too many to count.
A Few Memorable Moments:
The shirt: We were recently offered a chance to buy polo shirts with our school's name and logo on it. I didn't buy one because I have a few already, but Little P. put his name down for an XL. No one even noticed until it came out, no pun intended, that he ordered a woman's XL.
"P.," we asked with a laugh. "Why did you order a woman's XL?"
"I like wearing woman's clothing." He stated matter of factly.
"What?" I said. "You mean like dresses and lingerie?"
"No," he said defensively. "They are just cut better for me." (Little P. is also nicknamed 'Skinny fat boy' very skinny but has a pot belly.) He has also been mistaken for Justin Timberlake.
We all laughed at his answer regarding the shirt, and said derisive things about his masculinity. And of course within minutes department store pictures for lingerie started to go up on the bathroom door with captions like "Little P.'s holiday shopping guide, etc.…"
Caribou Queen: Another time P. started to sing a song. He was convinced it was called, "Caribou Queen." We all said to him. "No, It's Caribbean Queen." by Billy Ocean. He looked at us with confusion, but after we all started singing "Caribou Queen." He laughed and agreed we were right.
Life Lesson 96: One thing I've learned from teaching or any other job for that matter is that you have to like what you do., or at least like some of the things about your job, and make sure you can laugh a lot. because remember what Mark Twain once said that one should "Make your vocation a vacation and you will never work a day in your life."
No comments:
Post a Comment