EBB
You can't find your sunglasses. You're in a hurry and they're just not there, and on a bright, sunny day like today, you know that's going to be torture. Oh, and hello allergies. Long time no see.
FLOW
You make it to tutoring on time with a minute to spare.
EBB
Jenny tells you she has an interview at Naked Lounge. Not only that, she quit her job with the Academic Senate, something she'd been considering for some time. This is good for her. A move to improve her social life. Get her out of the office. And you encourage this and are proud of her for getting an interview. Of course you're thinking about your ex-girlfriend, AJ, who still works there (as far as you know) and what sort of strange situation might come from them sharing the same employer. The forecast isn't good, but Jenny really wants to work in a coffee shop, and Naked Lounge is one of the better shops around town. So you congratulate her and try to shake off the anxiety, but you can't, and it drags you down all day.
FLOW
You pace around the classroom looking for students who aren't doing their homework or need help with a question, and you come up to Gabriela with a blank page and no apparent desire to work at all. You ask her what's holding her back and she says she doesn't understand it--perfect!--and you gladly grab a chair and sit with her and talk her through the first problem. It's practice with the idea of dissecting a prompt, getting the kids ready to carefully analyze questions before answering them. So we have to identify the verbs (what the prompt is asking you to do), the "what" (the topic), the audience and the parameters (the specifics). It's not too tough. Gabriela seems to catch on. You tell her to work on the next problem and you'll come back to check on her in a minute.
EBB
Two seconds later, Gabriela gets sent to detention for talking to a classmate.
FLOW
You help a handful of other students with their homework. You remember a few of their names. You start to feel more like part of the team. The kids are starting to open up. You get to know the teachers Ms. Hockenson and Katee a little better during Friday Fun time on the field.
EBB
You see a lot of kids get disciplined. You see grades threatened and detention served and parents called and students arguing back and teachers raising their voices. It's a little overwhelming. It makes you realize that taking command of an entire classroom takes authority. Kids don't always like authority. You remember being in seventh grade. Being restless. You know these kids are smart and all of them are fully capable, more so than any preoccupied teacher gives them credit for. You wish Gabriela hadn't been sent to detention because you'd seen how easy it was to sit with her, give her one-on-one attention, and really teach her something. You wish you could just give all these students one-on-one attention and really make sure they understand what's going on, but you can't, and that's the problem because teachers can't do that with a full class. One teacher is especially harsh, and you wince, uncomfortable, remembering strict teachers but viewing the strictness from such a different point of view and thinking: you don't have to be so mean. This is what larger class sizes has led teaching to become. We teach them all as one, hoping some of them are paying attention. This is upsetting. You wish these kids weren't shuffled along like cattle. You wish you could start making changes.
FLOW
You now want to be a teacher more than ever.
EBB
The weather, though beautiful, is hotter than you anticipated. You forgot what humidity feels like. You don't like it but you realize that this is Sacramento and this summer's going to be a whole lot of this and more.
FLOW
You stop at Target and get new sunglasses.
EBB
The Acura overheats on the way home and the engine is spraying chemicals out of the pipes leading into the engine and it looks like holes poked into a hose or something and fuck, fuck, fuck, so you close the hood and walk away and think about that later. Also Jenny tells you that she starts training at Naked Lounge tomorrow.
FLOW
Your new ID arrives in the mail. About time. Jenny organizes a barbecue. She picks you up on the way home from Walmart with a new barbecue and food supplies and the two of you go to Safeway to get buns and beer. Also she tells you that the whole thing about getting a job at Naked Lounge was an April Fools joke, and you do, in fact, feel like a fool. Being with Jenny lifts your spirits and as the night continues, you start to feel better again. Julie-Ann brings an adorable black dog named Murphy to the barbecue. You build the barbecue and it makes you miss playing with Legos. Nick cooks the hamburgers. Roasted red peppers with melted cheese. Chicken. You and Jenny and David and Meg and Nick and Ashley and Julie-Ann and Jen and Murphy lounge about. It's fun. Julie-Ann is in a similarly frustrating relationship situation you were once in. Meg had her last day at the co-op. David rides home to get a metal spatula. Jen sings a little and Nick moves to put on the Lynyrd Skynyrd album. Some of Jenny's neighbors come by to introduce themselves and they're a funny group of well-dressed gay men (and their lovable, token girl friend). Jen leaves to go see some show. A pipe gets passed around and you get a good body high. Meg and David leave. The rest of you walk to Rick's and get pie. You stay the night at Jenny's, which is always good, and try to go to bed early enough not to be too tired to wake up early for work in the morning, but of course that doesn't happen and you will wake up tired, but that doesn't matter because you're in love and you don't care.
- Left to Fry
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