With a Stick

This is just a poem but it felt good to get down. I did my best to follow my syllabic pattern (hence the apostrophes). I'll work on iambics and/or other patterns next time I feel like writing poetry.

I can't teach the deaf with words and
I can't teach the blind with pictures.
Somehow, though, you are neither,
And I can't teach you anything
At all.

The chatter is always d'sruptive.
Since the first lesson in the caves
Elders told their young to shut it
The stupid fell and the smart, well,
Survived.

After generations, those who fell
Got back up. Standing tall like ev'ry
Other person. As though they belong
In the ranks of the geniuses and
Scholars.

"Hey! I have ideas, and opinions
that matter more than anything else!"
One cried, "Do tell," I say and
Silence fills the room yet again.
Moron.

So many people look at yard sticks
As a tool of maths, not discipline.
Yet what better way to learn than
With a stick. Learning the hard way is
still learning.

The First Fair Wrap-Up

Yesterday was the last day of school for the kiddos. It was weird, to say the least. We started the day doing some improv and impromptu speeches. To give the kids a chance with their impromptu speeches I sent them outside while the person before them did their speech and formulate a plan. While practising, they also sign a card for our TA. Afterwards, we tidied up the classroom, took labels off of everything, then went outside for an early break and threw around some discs. It was really fun. Then the class had Arabic and went on a spree and signed each others' shirts- lots of HAGS (have a good summer) and one kid wrote POOP on another's back... Thankfully my trusty TA realised that we have an assembly fifth lesson so she got all the kids expected to be called up on stage to put on hoodies. Once Arabic ended, I brought back the last of my graded books and the kids took on the math challenge which was completing unfinished pages in the math book. It was basically a free-choice math lesson and everyone enjoyed doing something in their ability range.

While this was going on, I walked around the classroom playing the guitar. The atmosphere really calmed down until I foolishly started taking requests. My boys of 2016-17 always managed to find a way to start dancing like frat boys on the carpet. I ushered them back to their seats and got them to pack up their bags before I played them this song including the harmonica solo. This was the first time I had played this song to end the year, but I think it's a new tradition.

I sent the kids out to break and monitored the jungle gym and threw with the Grade 3s and some of my students from this year. Once the whistle went we travelled back inside and went down to the year-end assembly. It was a good celebration for the Grade 3s, 4s, and 5s. There were awards and honours handed out for academics and contributions throughout the year. The one thing I was waiting for at the end of assembly was the Prefect announcements. These are the leaders of Primary for the upcoming year. I had three from my class, it was a good feeling. I'd like to think that I helped them reach that level of responsibility.  

Once the assembly ended it was already 2. By the time everyone got back to class parents were everywhere ready to get their kids. It was at that point I realised no one would be there tomorrow except the teachers. The day had evaporated. I wish I had more time! I signed t-shirts, Student of the Week posters, and yearbooks as everyone was rushing everyone else to get something signed.

This had never happened before. When I was in Qatar, Ramadan was this "school's out" code and the last day with a class was well before the actual last day. In Korea, I did my camp programs and then I was on a plane, so you never get the mutual feeling school's done. It still doesn't feel like it's over because I'm used to having a week to tidy everything up and sign off stuff and watch 5-10 kid movies.

Alas, what's done is done and I'm off to France to see Beach Worlds and Sam Roberts Band.

The Hanger, The Hanger

As some might already know, or assume, I am not always the most sensible person. I've panicked and run red lights in the middle of the night, said things I shouldn't have said, eaten things I shouldn't have eaten, several drunken "strolls" where I don't know what I've done, and proactively planned dates I knew would fail (can't blame a guy for hoping though). Never before did I go grocery shopping thirty minutes before sunset during Ramadan.

It should be noted I'm giving the cashier a hard time here and we don't get to hear his side of the story. Maybe he's a newly dumped, hungry as hell, dehydrated to the moon. Same could be said for the bag boy.

To be clear this wasn't a full-on shopping trip. I just needed some fruit, cheese, and frozen pizzas. I went in expecting to see throngs of last-minute shoppers, but only saw a few shopping carts half full. I went downstairs to the main part of the grocery store and picked up the items mentioned above and went back up to the main floor and the cashier. Looking at the bulk section, I impulsively bought chocolate chips and walnuts (I've had over ripe banana in my freezer for ages). Then I went to cash out.

What a disaster. This cashier's posture was sunk in, he could barely keep his head up. The man in front of me had three cases of yoghurt and pita bread, and this cashier didn't ring up the dude's pita bread. 75% is a pretty solid shooting percentage, but you're not playing basketball, buddy. The customer and the cashier were talking back in forth in Arabic but it seemed more constructive than aggressive.Standing there, I started to feel the heat of the afternoon and the work of the day take its toll, and now I was getting tired. The customer moved on and I walked over to the other side of the cash register to start packing up my bags.

Now Jordan is not, in any respects, green. Every store uses plastic bags to bag all the groceries, there's  liminal recycling systems and some renewable energy initiatives. The first thing is the most important for this story. They also hire bag boys. So I pull out my reusable bag from my backpack and put it in front of the bag boy. The bags of fruit are scanned, I put them in the bag, then the pizzas, into the backpack, then MAXI PADS?!?!

The guy had missed the cheese, nuts and chocolate chips! I couldn't believe it. That's 5/8. He had completely bungled the transaction. It was hard to not be frustrated, so I took the easy route and yelled at him. Like a zombie, the cashier was unphased by this. Since he had started a new tab on the pads, he rung up the cheese, nuts and chocolate chips separately. He looked at both receipts and I thought to myself, you can't let this guy add then subtract. I tried to help but the numbers were printed in Arabic, and the receipt machine was running on low ink. Add my fatigue into the equation and I couldn't do it without a pen.

He handed me 21JD back which seemed fair so I walked out of there and started to reflect on how to prevent that from happening again. Here's what I came up with:

Customer Solutions:
Look for the perkiest cashier
Don't go shopping at 6 pm during Ramadan

Cashier Solutions:
Get some rest, take a break and switch back and forth with the bag boy

Everyone should win if we follow these ideas. Ramadan Kareem and do your best to avoid the worst feeling ever: hanger.