Teacher of the Year

I stood on the corner across the street from the school, my new morning duty post.  I am getting farther and farther away from the actual building.  It is dark in the morning now and often raining.  It's the Loneliest Duty Post in the World.  I have the uncomfortable job of asking people with students not to use the crosswalk, as there is a near fatality every morning, and to instead use the crosswalk up the street that has crossing guards.  I get a lot of side-eye and huffs and puffs.  It is not a pleasant way to start the morning and was obviously not my idea. 

Everyone was predicting an eventful week.  A full moon, inside recess because of rain, all capped by Halloween.  Mondays aren't really my thing.  Nor are early mornings.  I stood in the dark morning drizzle across the street and down the block from the school, trying not to get a migraine from the bright headlights shining straight into my eyes.  A car pulled off and parked on the street to the side of my questionable crosswalk.  A man and child exited.  I walked up tentatively and delivered my apologetic request that they advance to the next crosswalk for reasons of safety.   The man breathed deep and then loudly started telling me off in front of his kid. 

I have noticed that any sentence that starts with "Look" is usually bad.  No one says "Look!  You are an amazing educator that handles an uncomfortable duty station at 7:20 am with such grace, and my, you are good looking!  What are YOU doing in a place like THIS!?".

"Look, this is a public space and I am going to walk my kid up to that school just like I do everyday....." he said loudly, staring down at me.  Oddly, I have never seen his everyday walk across the street, but, whatever.  I've only been standing on that shit-ass corner for three months, at a horrible morning hour, getting pegged in the head by some type of fucking acorn that falls from the trees at a bullet-like speed.  He continued telling me off for several minutes while parents stared at us.  He even accused me of singling him out for my crosswalk intervention.  Bro, no one has time for all of that, least of all me.  I assumed that at some point he would just cross in the goddamned crosswalk, as I obviously don't throw my body in the street to block people.   He finally came up for air and I responded lowly, "Look man, I'm just doing my job" and walked away.  I was surprised when he turned around and walked with his kid to the other crosswalk, leaving his car running and headlights shining on me and the controversial crosswalk. 

I tried not to look flustered as people passed by me.  I thought of an in-class conversation that had occurred recently.  The kids wanted to know how the teacher of the year selections are made.  I told them, and one kid asked me if I was eligible to be teacher of the year even though I am a Spanish teacher and not general ed. 
"Yeah,"  I responded, laughing, "but everyone forgets about us!".
"Except for your students." Emily said quickly.
"Emily, that is one of the nicer things anyone has said to me lately." I responded, seriously touched. 

I realized that psycho-dad was taking forever to get back to his car, whose lights were still shining on me and my offending crosswalk.  As I glanced over, I paused and looked more carefully at the car.  He was sitting in the driver's seat, high beams on me, staring at me.  I nearly screamed.  He remained there, lights on me, staring from the driver's seat for the remaining ten minutes of my duty.  I finally trotted down the sidewalk, jaywalked and cut through the grass to avoid walking in front of his idling car. 

As I re-told the story to my fellow outside duty friends, I was suddenly yanked into my new principal's office. 
"You can't tell people not to use the crosswalk!" she stated, voice raised.
I lost my shit.  Now I was in fucking trouble?
"LOOK!"  I started, "Do you think that this was my idea?  Do you think I want that duty?  I am doing what the other administrator told me to do.  Believe me, I'd be more that happy not to".
She acquiesced.  And I went on to start my real job, already late for my first class.

Little did I know that bizarro-week was just beginning.