Dear Teacher on Payday,
On payday, teachers get wild and crazy with their spending. I'm talking extravagant purchases like oil changes, car tags, and grande frappes at Starbucks. God forbid, payday falls on a Friday. On a payday Friday, you can bet every pedicure shop in town is going to have a set of teacher toes soaking in steaming, eucalyptus water. They're also going to tear through shelves at Publix like they're contestants on Supermarket Sweep. Diet Cokes and bagged salads, well, they don't stand a chance.
But today was different.
Today, teachers in Santa Rosa County woke up to a jolt: no check. Nada...as in...none. Talk about a whoopsie. Those barges during Sally, those were rough, but this, this, was 2020 at its finest. This fiscal error would have been unwelcomed any year, but this year, it amplified an anxiety that goes beyond decimals in a checking account. It typified insecurities of feeling unseen, unsure, and unstable. These days it seems we can't even count on what we thought was immutable, but the good news is there was a speedy resolution.
I still can't make heads or tails of what happened, but I do know, as of seven hours ago, my October paycheck was resting in my checking account like a swaddled, newborn baby. In the morning, I'll probably swing through Starbucks for a grande pumpkin latte. Now that your check has been "made right," I hope you'll do the same. And while you're at it, you should consider splurging with a full tank of gas- premium unleaded.
While you're driving the long way to work, sip slowly, drink in fall, and turn this thought over a time or two.
On a day when teachers discovered an egregious payroll mistake, the vast majority of them took to social media with witty banter, "Off to volunteer," or decided to grant themselves a jeans day to cope, or joked about a no grading strike until a check was deposited. Even in extreme frustration, across the district, I saw smiles, laughs, jokes, and dang, if we don't need that more now than ever.
Granted, we don't want a repeat come November 15th. Butterball turkeys need to be purchased, but perhaps, the payroll debacle of 2020 was a gentle reminder that even something that feels so awful (like the 1,000 unsolved problems of teaching in a pandemic) won't last forever.
Insufficient funds can, and will, return to sufficiency with a little time and patience. Until then, I know good teachers will do exactly what they did today. They'll keep showing up, forgiving, and laughing their way through the struggle because at the end of the day, it sure beats the alternative.
If this craziness, all of it, has taught us anything it's that at any moment all that we hold dear could be gone in an instant.
It's a lesson that can only be learned with loss, but man, what an appreciation loss fosters!
That latte has never tasted better, has it?
-CDB