Stupendous of the stupendous

My job is not passive. Everything fights; fighting for my wary attention, and teasing my priorities into a tangled mess. I cannot stand not being able to focus on one task at a time. When one is almost complete, another pops up on Outlook. There must be a way of adjusting its intangibility toggle.

I wonder how my job would operate if I could shut off like my students. Then I would be able to stop working and cross my arms in a huff if someone told me I would have to wait 5 minutes to go to the bathroom. Or I could shut down for the day when I run out of black paint. Maybe I could start reading a book if my students start to bore me. I could escape into the hallway when they are distracted. I could tell them that I left my lesson plans at home and sit at my desk playing solitare. How would my students react if I stood up, left the class, and began teaching in a room with students whom I preferred to be around? I wonder how odd I would look with my coat on, bags in hand, anxiously standing by the classroom door tentatively staring at the clock to strike 4:00.

Now, imagine yourself at your job and your co-workers doing that. This is what a teacher has to deal with. Not that my teacher-colleagues act out these rude scenarios, but my students do and I spend most of my day with them.

Then again, when you have a grumpy co-worker, you can't send him or her into the hallway. Or ruin their self-esteem with an offhand remark scarring them for life. My, this icing is black!