Serf

"Fauci said to open the schools."  I read multiple times in newspaper article comments.
Actually, Fauci said "Close the bars and open the schools."  Atlanta hasn't closed the bars or the restaurants. Yet, they still want to open the schools.  
"The CDC says it's safe to open schools, especially elementary schools."
Actually, the CDC said that when community spread was low to moderate, schools could open with strict mitigation efforts in place.  Those mitigation efforts were repairs to aging ventilation systems, consistent mask wearing, constant social distancing, hand washing and repeated disinfecting and cleaning.  Both the county where I live and the county where I work are in the the highest level of community spread.  No ventilation remedies have taken place in my school.  Even if the kids respect mask wearing and social distancing protocols, every day we have to be in a closed room with them for thirty minutes while they eat lunch, with their masks off.  No one even mentions temperature checks or a testing program any more.  Yet people keep saying that the CDC says it's safe to open schools, and ignore the rest of the statement.   

I am to return to work in person on Wednesday.  I will be given a spray bottle of disinfectant, a rag and a pair of gloves.  If I forget my mask, one will be provided, but I have been advised not to do that all of time.  If I want plexiglass for partitions or some sort of air ventilation, I have to buy it myself.  If I want one of those plastic face shields, I am also welcome to buy it myself.  I am required to mark off desks that students can't sit in in, in accordance with social distancing protocols.  And guess what?  I get to buy the tape myself.  There are two closet-sized faculty bathrooms in the entire school and they have been placed on an hourly cleaning schedule.  We are required to be in the building, starting Wednesday, even if students aren't there.  We even have to be in the building on the COVID deep cleaning days, when the students don't even have live lessons.  

I have another real kicker.  I have not had COVID yet.  If I get it when I return to the building, I have to use my sick day bank in order to get paid, though the obvious common denominator would be my return to the school building.  Additionally, if I am informed that I have been exposed at school and must isolate, I have to use my sick bank to do it.  When a teacher asked if we could teach virtually if we are forced to isolate because of school exposure, the answer was no.  You have to use your sick bank.  What if I feel fine and have been forced to isolate by the school and don't have any sick days left? someone asked.  Well, you just don't get paid.  

I watched a red-faced white man on television, screaming into a microphone.

"MY GARBAGE MAN HAS BEEN BACK AT WORK!  THOSE TEACHERS NEED TO GO BACK IN THERE TOO!"  he howled.

He was very demanding.  Because he pays property taxes, the man seemed to suddenly transform from an ordinary person into a lord, demanding that his serfs get their asses back on the manor.  He felt very empowered.  At that moment, he wasn't whatever shitty low wage worker that he normally was.  He owned the place, and he certainly felt like he owned me.  

I pay property taxes, too.  About two thousand dollars a year, and a small portion of that actually goes to public schools.  That's quite a low bar for king-making.  And, I hope his garbage man kicks his ass.  I'd help.  

This is my fifteenth year teaching public school.  I have never thought about quitting so much in my entire career.  

2021

After days of worry, protests and passive-aggressive work emails that contradicted the one sent minutes before, I received a reprieve. We received a reprieve.  At nearly eight o'clock on Sunday the third, I was told that I would not have to report to work in person the following Monday morning.  I continued couch-teaching.  

Wednesdays are special, we don't have to teach live classes, though I do anyway. We can set our own schedule between time-consuming, time-wasting mandatory meetings.  Kaw comes every Wednesday for his 8:30 reading lesson, like clockwork, and I put up links for anyone else who needs help with their classwork.  And usually, they do.

I turned on the TV on Wednesday the sixth, right in the middle of the day, though we usually don't watch it until nighttime.  I wanted to see what kind of shit show the Republicans might try with Biden's electoral count.  I put the volume down really low and put the close caption on, and kept working and teaching.  I walked through the living room later and saw Trump talking on the television in front of a large crowd of people,  behind a box of bullet proof glass. 

"Alec!"  I called to the other room.
"He's actually talking to those people!" I continued, referring to the rally that I knew was going to take place, but unaware that Trump actually planned to officiate the fucking thing. 
"Yeah...I'll read about it later,"  Alec responded
"I can't sit through one of those long things of his."

I watched Mitch McConnell's come to Jesus speech.  He always looks so stupid when he tries to appear sincere.  I saw the Zodiac Killer, I mean Ted Cruz, continue his shit show.  I signed on to a training I had to do live, but kept my camera and microphone off.  Then, I saw the crowd of Trumpistas, with their gaudy Trump-wear, crowding in front of the Capitol.  Alec came over and sat on the couch beside me.  I propped my laptop on top of Lola's memory foam dog bed and signed a form to prove that I was in the training.   

"That looks like a lot of people." he commented.

"Yeah, it really does." I responded.

"But look, when they pan out, it doesn't look like so many...." I continued.

"There's a lot of ground between them..."

We all know what happened next.  And continued for hours.   I signed in to my 3:00 training and never even turned up the volume.  Helicopters flew overhead, because people were gathering at the Georgia Capitol, about a mile as the crow flies from my house.   

There have been times when I might have supported a nice insurrection.  Even a revolution.  Or at least a really impactful protest, something that really opened people's eyes and changed things.  Our government hasn't always been on our side.  I couldn't believe that when it looked like it was actually happening it was by THEM...for... HIM.  Red faced white people, carrying Trump flags.  Wearing hockey scarves emblazoned with his name.  Exercise leggings with "Trump 2020" up the sides.  When people really decided to tear things up, it was for an orange fat man that had reigned on reality television.  Faux-gold plated Donald Trump.  He really got them going.  Did we burn it up because Black people are killed everyday?  Because women are robbed of their rights?  Because they have children in cages on the border?  Because the proletariat only makes the rich richer and can't even get a physical because we don't have healthcare?  No.  They attacked the government for a turd.  I really lost faith in America that day.  

Soberuary turned to Moderationuary and I sat on the couch and watched.  The news roll-by started listing off Georgia Representative's messages from DC:  Lucy McBath:  My staff and I are safe.  Hank Johnson:  I am safe and secure.  Nikema Williams:  I'm safe.  I was stunned to see them reporting to their families and constituents in this manner.  Then, I saw Kelly Loeffler reporting herself safe and I thought, from what?  Your friends?  These amazing people running around rubbing their own shit all over the walls of the Capitol?  I thought she'd have been handing out candy.  

I woke up today, feeling pretty good after sleeping in on a Saturday.  I turned on the Facebook and watched a teacher friend marching in the cold in front of her district's HR, begging to not have to return to school with students until the COVID numbers go down, just like I did during the December break.  

I hope she wins.  I hope we all win.