Wednesday - my favourite and least favourable day of the week! The best part of the day is going to Highbury College, learning more techniques of teaching and childhood development, following by a lesson of study skills…ok call me crazy, but I love college and would recommend it to any adult who missed out as an adolescent.
The down side (and I’m sorry it this sounds bad) is the special needs people who appear to have their classes on this day. Don’t get me wrong I don’t dislike or wish to discriminate against them; it’s just the awkwardness between us. I feel I should help a disabled person struggling to reach something from a shelf, or fighting with a door and their wheelchair, but I am reluctant to help because I worry they will get offended that I am trying to help them because they think that I think they can’t manage because they are handicapped. It’s a lose/lose in my mind and I have taken to just avoiding them at all costs during intermission, although this is not always successful.
While entering an unfamiliar building on site one day a little fellow approached me and quickly spluttered “Tell Paula I love her!” Of course my attention was elsewhere…like finding where the hell I had to go in this hamster cage, and I missed exactly what he had said, so being polite replied “I’m sorry?”
“TELL PAULA I LOVE HER!” I’m mean what is that all about? Who is Paula and who do you think I am? I quickly said “I don’t know” and made a break for the next available door, which thankfully was a stairwell so ran up the stairs. Another strange encounter was in the ladies toilets, again, I was approached by a lady who asked my name, then she told me hers and stood there slapping her face for a few minutes before turning and walking out of the toilets. I just don’t get these people what do they want from me? Was she trying to find out if I was Paula? Who the hell is Paula?! I’ve taken to going to one of the toilets in the gym hall that no one seems to use and having my break in the deepest part of the library – I figure it will take them some time to find me in here and when they do they will have to be quiet so won’t be able to speak to me. I’m not being discriminative – I just have a short attention span and can’t understand people who don’t speak clearly and I just don’t want to unintentionally upset anyone!
Anyway getting back to the main story…I’m on a tight schedule to get to and from the college. The morning went really well, we left the house at 7:30, I dropped the kids at the childminders at 8am and walked to the ferry, which I caught perfectly at 8:30am. I was even early for the bus and waited in the booth for 10 minutes before hopping on at 8:50. Thirty minutes later I am strolling into the school and sitting at an available chair ready for the lesson at 9:25 (considering the lesson starts at 9:30 I thought this was pretty perfect timing!).
Coming home however was a different story. I finished class early (2:40) and strolled straight to the bus stop, just in time to see my bus pull out from behind another one and off into Portsmouth without me…Damn it! So I checked the time table - the next one would be 15 minutes away…damn it again!! Eventually I got the next bus at 3:05 and was on my way (on the way I noticed another bus stop, one that was closer to the school and if I had just walked to it instead I would have caught that last bus easily! Hindsight is a wonderful…but mean thing - But I now have a mental note for next week!) We go under the motorway and pull up at the next stop. The driver opens the doors, stands up, collects his coat and bag and walks off. A few brief seconds pass, (which was enough time for my brain to think we have just been abandoned!) when another driver steps aboard and gets him self settled…phew that’s a relief, but time is ticking guys!!!
The down side (and I’m sorry it this sounds bad) is the special needs people who appear to have their classes on this day. Don’t get me wrong I don’t dislike or wish to discriminate against them; it’s just the awkwardness between us. I feel I should help a disabled person struggling to reach something from a shelf, or fighting with a door and their wheelchair, but I am reluctant to help because I worry they will get offended that I am trying to help them because they think that I think they can’t manage because they are handicapped. It’s a lose/lose in my mind and I have taken to just avoiding them at all costs during intermission, although this is not always successful.
While entering an unfamiliar building on site one day a little fellow approached me and quickly spluttered “Tell Paula I love her!” Of course my attention was elsewhere…like finding where the hell I had to go in this hamster cage, and I missed exactly what he had said, so being polite replied “I’m sorry?”
“TELL PAULA I LOVE HER!” I’m mean what is that all about? Who is Paula and who do you think I am? I quickly said “I don’t know” and made a break for the next available door, which thankfully was a stairwell so ran up the stairs. Another strange encounter was in the ladies toilets, again, I was approached by a lady who asked my name, then she told me hers and stood there slapping her face for a few minutes before turning and walking out of the toilets. I just don’t get these people what do they want from me? Was she trying to find out if I was Paula? Who the hell is Paula?! I’ve taken to going to one of the toilets in the gym hall that no one seems to use and having my break in the deepest part of the library – I figure it will take them some time to find me in here and when they do they will have to be quiet so won’t be able to speak to me. I’m not being discriminative – I just have a short attention span and can’t understand people who don’t speak clearly and I just don’t want to unintentionally upset anyone!
Anyway getting back to the main story…I’m on a tight schedule to get to and from the college. The morning went really well, we left the house at 7:30, I dropped the kids at the childminders at 8am and walked to the ferry, which I caught perfectly at 8:30am. I was even early for the bus and waited in the booth for 10 minutes before hopping on at 8:50. Thirty minutes later I am strolling into the school and sitting at an available chair ready for the lesson at 9:25 (considering the lesson starts at 9:30 I thought this was pretty perfect timing!).
Coming home however was a different story. I finished class early (2:40) and strolled straight to the bus stop, just in time to see my bus pull out from behind another one and off into Portsmouth without me…Damn it! So I checked the time table - the next one would be 15 minutes away…damn it again!! Eventually I got the next bus at 3:05 and was on my way (on the way I noticed another bus stop, one that was closer to the school and if I had just walked to it instead I would have caught that last bus easily! Hindsight is a wonderful…but mean thing - But I now have a mental note for next week!) We go under the motorway and pull up at the next stop. The driver opens the doors, stands up, collects his coat and bag and walks off. A few brief seconds pass, (which was enough time for my brain to think we have just been abandoned!) when another driver steps aboard and gets him self settled…phew that’s a relief, but time is ticking guys!!!
Another 15 stops and some ill-behaved school boys* later and we are finally at Gunwharf at 3:35! Just in time to see the Spirit of Gosport pull away from the berth…Damn it to hell!!! Thankfully Gosport Ferries lay on two ships during peaks times and one turned up within minutes of the other leaving, so I was still making ground even if it was a little slower than anticipated. By 3:55 the childminder is calling, as she was expecting me at 3:30 but said not to worry and that she was heading out, but the girls were at the house with her oldest daughter and childcare assistant. Eventually after booting it as fast as my legs would take me I arrived at 4:07, very sweaty since I wore a woolly jumper today thinking it was going to be a cool day and having power-walked with a heavy book bag!
I thanked the assistant who also gave me the low down of the days’ happenings, which was basically they had a fantastic time and were keen to come back. Although they need lessons on naughty steps…apparently one little boy was in trouble so had to sit on the naughty step. The girls having no understanding of a naughty step kindly went and sat with him to keep him company. It was a nice gesture, but that’s not going to teach anyone any lessons, so we are going to go home and talk about that one.
Half way home Becky decides she is tired and wants to ride on the pushchair, so I give in, just for the peace and to stop all the starring as a bawling kid walks past. Thank god for Katie being a big girl! We arrived home by 5pm, got supper, sod the house work, put the girls to bed, had a shower and crawled into bed…At least I know I’ll sleep well tonight and my throbbing leg muscles and feet thank me for getting off them finally too!
*Just my luck to catch the school run – I wonder why the bus drivers put up with these little trouble makers on their buses? For a start the cunning little shits were passing their tickets out the window to their mates so they could get on for free – I’m sure they would be getting an extra cheap rate anyhow! Then they sat there feet up on the seats, swearing and smacking each other. I did wonder for a minute why did I want to be a teacher and have to put up with these shit heads, but then I thought that’s exactly why…to sort these little shit heads out and maybe teach them some manners in public! It probably won’t fly, but there’s got to be some hope or every teacher would give up on students.
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