Our school is a mixed-use facility, which means, among other things, that groups can rent space and use our classrooms on weekends. As such, it's always been a bit irksome to me to arrive at school on Monday morning and find this or that out of place, or this or that left behind. Some of my reaction is undoubtedly related to the proprietary feelings I have for this room I have occupied for so many years, but it is also the failure to respect my professional space: I doubt that the principal or building administrator would be happy if people used their offices when they weren't there.
Anyway, a few weeks ago I came in on Monday to find my room in disarray and the screen on my iPad smashed. I took photos and sent them to the facilities manager, along with a request that my classroom be removed from the rotation for a while. In return, I got a tepid apology and no assurances. When some unkind words were scrawled on my chalk board a couple of weeks later, I sent another picture and received the terse reply that no one was scheduled in my room that weekend.
But today when I returned from 10 days away over spring break, my room was neat and orderly, better than I had left it. I was thankful, too, until a colleague a couple of doors down came by. "Was there a bubble machine in here this morning?" she asked.
"Huh?" I replied.
Just then the guy across the hall came in. "I had one in my room, too," he nodded.
I had to go see them! Sure enough, the folks who used their rooms had left behind devices about the size of an electric pencil sharpener that when plugged in?
Generate a steady stream of soap bubbles! Which is obviously way better than vandalism and graffiti. I am going to have to borrow those.
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