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My Profile
Gift from Hil Part 2 - 2014-12-30
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11:03 a.m. - 2011-09-06
Guess I had constipation of the diary. Opened Word a dozen times over the last few days but there was no 'there' there. Mick and I took Wolf to school this morning. There was a snafu with his schedule, namely they had him attending his old school. Which I didn't find out until late Friday afternoon. Too late to do anything and no one to call. So the holiday weekend was spent in a high state of fury and anxiety. WTG, Podunkville, managed to screw with my kid yet again. His first day of high school and already he feels like a reject and a fool. Based on how things go at Uber Sports School Mick suggested we get to Wolf's school a little after 6:00am so to beat the crush at 7:00 when the buses start coming in. On Mick's campus the administrators, staff and most of the faculty arrives at least an hour before the first bell. Especially on the first day of school. Imagine our surprise when we get to Wolf's school at 6:20 and find the place nearly dead. The lights were on, but the main office was locked and we didn't see anyone inside it or in the halls. Eventually someone came out of a door down the hall. She recognized me, I hadn't a clue who she was though. Turns out it was the school nurse. She asked after Alex and I told her he was doing well. Lives upstate, has his own house, a good job and is in the master's program. Standard answer to folks I don't tell my business to. Funny, I hadn't thought much about any of the staff remembering me, it's been 8 years since Alex graduated. But when you're a human lighthouse, a walking Washington's monument with tits, folks do remember you. Also Alex wasn't one of the herd either, what with all his involvement in the bands and his comedy troupe, plus his being rather oversized and noticeable too. I'm sure I'll be in for more of those "How's Alex?" conversations. I warned Wolf too, his last name is just too unique. As Gidget was LA the troublemaker's little sister to the faculty at my high school, so too Wolf will be Alex's little brother for a while. At least until Wolf makes his own place at school. Which is Podunkville High. It took almost an hour before anyone arrived who could actually help with the snafu, but in the meantime Wolf, Mick and I met just about everyone else. All of them eager to make friends and be super duper welcoming. Had a nice chat with the new assistant principal, a dude who'd come out of retirement to man a desk at his alma mater (class of 1971) as a favor to his pal and former classmate- the superintendent of schools. (See? I've told you how nobody ever leaves Podunkville.) Seems like an okay guy. Handsome devil too. Silver hair. Great teeth. Was wearing a very nice suit. Like a WASP-y lawyer. Which he probably had been. At one of those firms where the names on the door definitely do NOT end in a vowel. Eventually enough people were involved in Wolf's scheduling dilemma and we were assured all would be well. Nothing more they needed from us, at least right then. Said good-bye to Wolf, who actually hugged me in public. (*sniff*) And Mick and I walked out to the cars. We'd come in separate cars so he could leave and go straight to work from there. Still had a few minutes before he needed to go so we sat in my car and talked. Mick was very impressed by the staff at Podunkville. Couldn't believe how calm and professional they all were. No flapping around spazzing out over Wolf's unexpected presence. No mad excuse making and promises that heads will roll. Just acknowledgement of the problem and a confident expression that everything would be worked out just fine. Mick was also impressed by the staff only showing up scant minutes before the students. The hectic preparations that go on at Uber Sports School is crazy-making. For instance Mick has to get there a full hour before kick-off when he works the football games. There's nothing to do really, but rushing around with a clipboard is always welcome. As are frantic calls over the radio about where keys are. It seems every single person should be aware of who's holding which keys. God forbid someone needs to get into the English department's book room and nobody has the key! Disaster! The likelihood of anyone needing to get into the English department's book room during a football game is pretty fricken slim, but there must be a key and someone responsible for it. Must. Must. Must. So score one for Podunkville for being smooove. And snaps to my kid for looking pretty smooth himself. I gave him a haircut on Sunday, it's clipped close but not buzzed. He had on his new skinny jeans and a short sleeved rugby shirt. Seemed to fit in with the other guys. Though most were wearing huge, wrinkly khaki cargo shorts, not jeans. Well, one rather flamboyant fellow was wearing bedazzled jeans. Went nicely with his orange satin mules and sparkly nail polish. I'm guessing Podunkville doesn't have a lot of gender identity dress-code issues. Another point in their favor. Now that I think on it, being open and out is nothing new at Podunkville. One guy asked Alex to the prom. To which my son nicely said no thank you. Unfazed. Vaguely flattered because the guy was seriously cute. But no biggie otherwise. And won't the idiotic battle against marriage equality look even stupider 10-20 years from now? Will our kids be as repulsed by the violence and hateful rhetoric toward gays as we were about scenes from the Civil Rights Era? Stunned and disgusted that such ugliness was ever socially acceptable and legally allowed? I'm certain they will. And just when I'd given up and acknowledged there were enough pea-brained Christian Taliban ignoranties who'd vote for Michelle Bachman to make the upcoming presidential race a scary, scary thing, and I get my hope restored by a sophomore in satin slippers.
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