A Good Day

Gems, I have revised "Today Began at 6:30" and retitled it "A Good Day." I took Creed's advice a gave the piece a focus - a message of sorts. I focused on the expectations for the day. I added, I hope, some humor over the need for a cup of coffee. Also, Sondra, I tired to add in dialogue. Because the drama with my student ends when he gets on the plane, I chose to end the piece there as well. The rest of the day was interesting for me, but had little to do with the main event of the day. En Joy, Sandy


Today began at 6:30. Okay before 6:30 when the girls' alarm went off. I was looking forward to a great day of speech competition and activities. First, I wanted a great cup of coffee from the BABS coffee stand at the District Office. Later in the morning, I would ferry my students to lunch at a restaurant and go shopping using a district van. Then there were the finals in the afternoon, the awards banquet and dance. Little did I know that the warnings of the day before had not been heeded, and I another trip would be added to my day.

Camping at the Bethel Hilton - on a classroom floor at Bethel Regional High School (BRHS) - for our District Speech Contest has never been my favorite sleeping situation while chaperoning students. Luckily, I brought one of the electric air pump mattresses to sleep on which kept me from becoming an insane grouch by the second day of our trip. This, I believe helped me stay relatively calm through the rest of the day.

Breakfast was a shock. Well, only because I didn't read the new instructions that told us to take the kids up to the district office JROTC room for pancakes and sausage rather than the gym annex as in past years. (Major Bailey retired last spring, so there's no more 6:30, "coffee's ready if you want some" announcement). My girls and I lugged our luggage over to the DO and made it to the JROTC room just in time to eat. The coffee stand wasn’t open yet, so no java. As I sat enjoying a cold pancake with even colder sausage with some juice, I overheard two other chaperones,
“ They are sending her home. I just talked with Carlton.”
“What happened,’ I interrupted.
Then the one told me that two students were caught the night before 'kissy facing' up in the library in the dark after curfew.
“Where were they from,” I asked, already knowing the answer.
“The boy is from Chefornak. We are looking for his chaperone.”

“That would be me. I’ll go find him and take him to Carlton,” I replied with as little emotion as possible. One must remain professional in these situations even when one wants to go rip the finger and toenails off a favorite student. I didn’t know whether to be angry or hurt. I had warned him the afternoon before not to into any dark corner. Why didn’t he listen? Later, I found out the boys’ chaperone had warned him, too.

I left the JROTC room in a sort of focused haze to find my student. I hadn’t had any coffee yet, and wanted to buy a mocha from the now-open BABS coffee stand in the foray, but that would have to wait. When I found him, all I had to do was look at him and motion for him to follow me. He didn’t say a word, nor did I. What could I say? What could he?

The next three hours went like this:
- talk with student and super of students –
Carlton to student, “Do you know why you’re here?”
Student, no response.
Carlton, “You were caught in the dark library lying on the floor with a girl.
Student, “We weren’t doing anything.”
Carlton, “Still, it looked bad and you were out after curfew. We are going to send you home.”

-make plane reservation home for student - take student to airport and and and wait wait wait till 10:30 for the plane to take off. “So boring!!"- to quote my students.

I was told the plane would be leaving in half an hour: we’d have to leave right away. So keys in-hand, I took a longing look at the coffee stand and rushed out to start the van. I’d hope there was coffee at the airport.
My student said not a word all the way to Yute Air. I was hoping he was too embarrassed to talk to me, knowing really that he was probably just mad at what he must perceive as the injustice of it all. I wasn’t surprised that after we checked him in, he sauntered over to a seat as far away from me as possible. There he sat with his back to me – a silent statue. Couldn’t blame him, really.

Of course, when we had gotten to Yute, they said the plane wouldn’t take off until 10:30. It was just after 9:00. Thank goodness there was a coffee pot in the lobby with a fresh pot.

Sipping my coffee, I watched darkness lighten into day. Then the day was made much better by a brilliant red-gold sun rising over the mountains to the east on a balmy negative 4º morning with little wind. It would be a beautiful day.

My student’s day, of course, was already a disaster since he was sent home in shame and would miss the dance and another day with his sweetie who is from another village. Poor guy. I've got a new nickname for him now - Lancelot. Yup, he was warned and just like Lancelot and Guinevere, he got caught doing exactly what he was warned NOT to do. Oh, well. Some of life's lessons need hands-on to learn them.

One good thing did happen for him, though. Just before his plane left, Lance’s relatives came in from Chefornak on the morning plane and gave him the $149.00 he owed the school district for the plane ticket home.

My student boarded the plane without a goodbye or a look back. I waited for the plane to take off before I left.
Back in the van, I still longed for that good cup of java, but again, it would have to wait. I needed to get back to the DO. There were still trips to the store and a restaurant with the rest of my students. In the afternoon we’d all go to the finals. Later, there was the awards dinner and the dance. It would still be a good day. I'd get a mocha at the AC grocery store.