Today is one of those days I wonder how I’d look wearing Wal Mart blue, standing as gatekeeper of the carts while I greet the martsters. I’d probably be able to visit with friends; heck, maybe even make a few new ones. I’d have a wealth of character studies for stories watching everyone cruising in and out, and on slow days, could zip into the Electronics compartment and slam out a few words on a computer and save  in my pin drive.

Of course, standing so close to the fresh baked bread would mean I’d  soon sport thighs the size of the Statue of Liberty without the torch to balance them. But, hey, that’s what that nifty jacket’s for-camothighs.  During breaks I could cruise the book section, imagining my name on the covers and maybe doing some marketing for some of my writer friends. You know,  schmoozing and selling books. Maybe I could work out a commission deal.

No papers to grade, no lessons to plan, no parents to call, no students to _________. Now, I should be able to fill that blank with the word “teach.”  On good days, that happens. On days like today, I truly wonder why, at 17 years old, does someone come to my class almost daily without paper, without a pen, and without the motivation to do more than drool on my desk? Wouldn’t it be easier to stay home and fail than to drag yourself to school everyday to do that? Why does a junior in high school need me to say, “Do not hit (insert name here) in the back of the head with your pencil. If you’re going to do that, please give the pencil to (insert name here) who did not remember to bring his kitchen table today because that’s where he left his pen this morning.”

I’ll stop whining now. Besides, I still have dinner to cook (invent may be more appropriate), papers to grade, National Boards to sift through, clothes to wash, clothes to fold, dust bunnies holding conventions under most of the furniture, -and then there’s that novel that I think I’m writing. Okay, I promise, I’ll stop whining this time. Wow–this is starting to sound familiar. . .