THE ABSENT MINDED TEACHERS

Yesterday was an interesting day of subbing. I was scheduled to substitute for a Spanish class at Dos Pueblos High School. I showed up on time, opened the class, and didn't see a lesson plan. That has never happened to me before and I was a little worried about simply babysitting for six classes throughout the day. It's much better when there is busy work to do.

Anyways, it didn't matter, because the teacher came to school! He had canceled his request for a sub but the secretary didn't take note of the cancellation. So I was free to go!

As I was leaving the office the secretary said, "Wait! Phil, there is another sub who isn't here yet. Can you open their class and get them started?"

Why, certainly. The bell had already rung and all the students were just standing outside of the class, waiting for the substitute to show up. So I opened the door and started taking attendance. Moments later the substitute showed up, so I headed back to the office to say goodbye for a second time.

This time there were two security guards in the secretary's office. There was another teacher who didn't show up. This other teacher is actually my friend, Matt. I do Young Life with him. So I was sent over to his classroom where the students had been standing outside for about 10 minutes now. In fact, as I started heading their way, I could see some just beginning to leave.

It turns out Matt had emailed last night for a substitute, but the email servers were down in the office this morning, so the secretary never got the message. Matt's mother flew into town yesterday, but her plane was delayed and came in pretty late. He spent the day with her.

Good thing I was there.

I ended up subbing after all!