High School is Viral

I am currently sitting at my desk, watching students annotate an Arthur Miller essay.  I look like an infectious homeless person, because I’m totally sick (with a head cold and sore throat) and I’m wearing my giant “I-feel-sick” sweater.  I’m pretty sure I brushed my hair this morning, but I wouldn’t bet money on that.  I tried to call in sick, but I was five minutes past the stupid fucking deadline, so … here I am, spreading my germs around just like the rest of the 1500 germy, viral human beings in this cesspool. 

Everyone is sick, because everyone comes to school sick, and they touch everything, and they cough on everything, and they don’t cover their faces when they sneeze.  It’s truly disgusting.  The problem is that we HAVE to be here, so no one really gets better.   We all just pass around the same cold for like three months. 

I just want to be in my bed.  I would really love to be in my bed and have someone who loves me enough to make me soup or curl up with me and take a nap.  I now understand that will never happen – I will be dating myself for the rest of my life, so I need to find a way to like (and take care of) myself more. 

Last period, my seniors were writing (I use that word loosely here) about their strengths and weaknesses and life goals and whatnot.  They were honest, I’ll give them that.  But when a person identifies their “strength” as being good looking, I wonder what the hell they were thinking.  Or when someone identifies his special skills as hunting and coloring.  Or when someone’s life goal is to stop smoking the “devil’s lettuce”.  Or when someone’s weakness is “trying to get in all the girls’ pants”. 

I was a total deviant in high school, but I managed to get it together.  And in 2017, high school isn’t that hard.  Basically, you show up, do at least half of the stuff you’re asked to do, and you’ll graduate.  I currently have 9 of 24 seniors who are not passing my class, and ALL of them need it to graduate in May.  Sometimes I’ll see them in the hallway before class, they’ll say hi, and then they’ll just leave.  So, like, they were HERE in the building 10 minutes before class, but they couldn’t stand to be here another minute, so they took off and went home or to McDonald’s or whatever. 

So I’m going to do the same thing.  I got someone to cover my last three classes today, and I’m going to pick up some food and go home and crawl in my bed.  Happy Friday.