I have been taking a three-day
class with a teacher at my new school.
It's not "new" per dictionary definition; it's "new"
to me because our school has moved into the recently vacated old high school. I am somewhat unfamiliar with the school's
set up, but I took a tour last spring, so I know where most important things
are.
The other day, Day #1 of this
class, the teacher (facilitator) announced that she had to make some
copies. I am, at least I was at the time, pretty sure I knew where the
copy room is located, but I asked her, "Oh, where is the copy machine? I'm
going to need to make some copies on Thursday."
She showed me the hallway and
door and told me how to get to the machine, then she went to make her copies. This copy room is located in the same place
we were told when we toured the building in June, so her directions didn't
really come as a surprise to me, but I'm still getting the lay of the
land. It's like asking someone how you
get somewhere that you're reasonably sure you can find, but you just want that
extra reassurance, anyway.
This all brings me to today.
I arrive early today to make a
few copies for the new school year before my class starts at 9:00 a.m. I
assume that the copy machine in the location I know, where I was told and where
the teacher/facilitator showed me two days ago, is THE copy room.
I make 100 copies on pink paper
(I guess it should be obvious that I'm not where I might want to be since no
other paper is there except a case of pink).
At this point, an older woman with blond hair pops her head into the
room and says, "Oh."
I reply, "Good
Morning."
She starts to walk away then
comes back and asks, "Are you from the middle school?" How
quaint, I think innocently. She's
trying to greet the newbies in the school.
I consider saying, "No,
I'm some random person who wandered in from the street thinking I could make
free copies" (because sometimes I can be a wiseacre), but I smile and say,
"Yes, I am." So proud of
myself; so cheery and friendly to this woman who clearly has not aged as well
as I have.
She disappears without another
word.
Shortly, a second woman, also
older but with brown hair, comes across the hall from one of the random offices
still hovering inside my new building.
This woman, clearly annoyed with my presence, says very curtly,
"You can't use this machine. You don't have permission. This
is the ONLY high school copier, and this belongs to the HIGH SCHOOL. It's the
only one we have. We only have one, so please don't use it."
I apologize about five times
because by now I realize that Gretel (blondie) has clearly slunk back under the
rock from whence she came and sent her goon Brunhilda to finish me off. Two
nasty old women without class, manners, or balls.
Now I feel like an idiot (and a
felon). Dumbfounded, I ask, "Which
machine am I supposed to be using?"
"I don't know. Go
ask the secretary in the office."
My office. The middle school
office. My school.
I venture into the office, still
before my class but very close now to its scheduled start time, but the
principal is in there, too, and I don't want to make myself look like more of
an idiot, so I figure I'll let it go. I leave the office but turn around and come
back in to ask the secretary on the sly which machine I'm supposed to be
using. She also tells me the same one the teacher/facilitator has shown
me.
Suddenly, the principal wanders
back into the main office area. She
hears part of our conversation. I have
to fess up that I used the wrong machine and have gotten myself into trouble for
it.
Maybe the high school should
put a sign on the machine asking us not to use it until it's moved to their
building. Perhaps, the first woman should have explained to me why she
was asking from which school I came and maybe told me there was an issue in the
first place.
I am, in Boston terms, wicked
wicked wicked sorry if my faux pas causes an issue. The office secretary
of my school is incredibly accommodating and allows me to make the few copies I
need. I will not be making any more
until after school starts, until I'm certain all high school busybody rats have
been exterminated from the middle school halls.
