Monday, September 18, 2006

Humbled, Again.

Rain, rain, all day. The kind of misty-yet-HEAVY rain that nothing yet invented can keep you from getting soaked to the skin by. (How's that for a sentence?) (Yeah, well, I'm off duty now.)

I always keep an umbrella in my car but I really don't know why, because I loathe umbrellas and I never use them. I'd rather get wet.

And today, I got wet. BOY, did I get wet.

So did a few of my students. I say 'few' because most of them, in my morning classes, didn't show up today. They missed a quiz.

One girl strolled in forty minutes late because she 'slept in.' That would have been nice, we all agreed. Yes, indeed, I could see how she would have hated to get up and get out on a day like this.

But I say that if another student can come to class today when HER SISTER DIED OF A TOTALLY UNEXPECTED BRAIN ANEURISM THIS MORNING, then that first girl could have gotten up and gotten her sorry behind a little wet.

Guess which one gets to make up the work.

Every day, my students awe me in new and different ways, both good and bad. This morning, I got both.

God bless you, dear student. I am so sorry, and yes, you may definitely make up anything you might have missed today and will miss on Wednesday when your sister is to be buried. Please don't try to come to class after the funeral unless you really, really need the 'normalcy.'

I'm not talking to you, Lazy Girl. You'll come to class or you'll get another zero.

Life can be hard. Mine is, and I hate it that other people's sometimes are, too.