Old Men and Their Emotions

When I walked into Spanish class Wednesday morning, I realized there was a substitute teacher. The same substitute that knows absolutely no Spanish. He read the assignments very quickly and when we asked him to repeat it, he took an expo marker and slammed it into the whiteboard, causing a bit of black Ink to bleed out. I don't recall anyone treating him badly for him to act this way towards us. Then he went and sat at the desk and calmly picked up his book. Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.

He isn't a bad guy. Here and there I do catch a glimpse of him laughing with other students. I always see him sitting on a bench downtown Ayer, quietly and relaxed. Maybe he was called in last minute? He has told us stories about when he was in the army, so maybe this has impacted his emotional side of life, which caused this attitude coming from such a neutral person.

 I finished the work and when I looked up at him to ask what to do next, he literally just staring at the class. Now this isn't the first time that he has ever sat there awkwardly silent. He is always like this. So I quickly packed up my bag and asked if there was anything else I needed to do. He said no, so I shuffled myself out the door into the school library where I spend most of my free time, organizing books and learning life lessons from my extravagant librarian who has always listened to my thoughts about life and school. I don't think I could have sat in that quiet classroom for another minute without pulling out my phone and blaring Fleetwood mac, and letting out a monstrous yeti scream.

I seriously cannot stand silent classrooms. Especially when we are all doing the same work. I need human interactions for my best work! But, I was sent back to class after sitting there for 15 minutes and I made sure I took my time walking up the stairs. Thankfully, when I went to walk into the classroom and the bell rang. I waved to him good-bye and he gave me a quick nod and I made my way to the next class. I then found out, my next class had a substitute too. I mumbled under my breath “This should be good!” and then someone asked if I was alright. I looked at him and said “Yeah, Just a crazy day.”