Why don’t you teach full time?
Been there, done that, I reply
High School! How do you like that?
Implying I shouldn’t because the
questioner wouldn’t
I love teenagers, they are my people
I am just an older teen-ager, after all
The questioner laughs uncomfortably
Seeing me in a different light
Perhaps a really different light!
How long have you done it?
Going on 16 years, I reply
The questioner’s expression is
one of amazement, but I am not
sure it is positive
Why do you keep at it?
Sometimes I ask myself that
I haven’t had a pay raise in eight
years,
no benefits; occasionally I get a wild
bunch
that leaves me harried, but for the most
part
The FREEDOM keeps me at it- If I want
a day off, I take it
That day off is unpaid and guilt-free
The hours are great: 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
I have weekends free and all the major
Vacations, Christmas, Spring Break and
best
of all, summers free to work on my
writing!
None of it paid, mind you, but FREEDOM
is more
valuable than money to me
What do you like most about it?
The teen-agers and the variety- I am
a migrant worker with fresh minds to
pick each day
How long will you do it?
Until I am 70 and draw Social Security
or before, if one of my novels makes me
a professional writer!
Right now, subbing is a great day job!
My questioner shrugs, I suppose his
curiosity is satisfied or he is stupefied
He changes the subject and we continue
an amiable conversation
RK April 2016
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