The Elbow Paper Cut Club

        

As many of you know I am a Spanish teacher at the local high school in town.  I know what you were thinking. “Really, they hired her? Isn’t she the one that wrote that book about all of those Spanish speaking blunders?”  The answer is, yes. Yes I am.  However, they still hired me and I love what I do, even if I am a bit silly and quirky in the eyes of my students.  I always play upbeat Latin pop music as the kids come into class and you will find me dancing along with it as I greet them.  Can I dance?  Nope, not a lick.  But in my mind I think I can and that’s all that I need to get me going…that and a little Latin beat.

         Dancing for me is a scary thing, especially since my book is entitled Stumbling Along. You’d think I’d be wise enough to shut any type of movement other than walking right down just for the risk of potentially hurting myself.   But I say, live life to it’s fullest.  Dance like nobody’s watching or, in my case, dance like your whole class of 9^th grade students is watching.  And so I continue to do so. 

         Dancing doesn’t seem to be my problem at school just yet, but simply walking down the carpeted hallways does.  Just today as I was walking on the carpet during classes (when no one is supposed to be in the halls), I tripped a bit.  There was not a thing to trip on, not even a lump under the carpet.  It was all me. I knew it. In my mind I owned it. Then I heard a voice say from a bit behind me, “Yep, I saw it.”  It was a student, who was out of class and who probably had no good reason to be.  We had a nice little laugh at my expense and I continued on my journey knowing full well that it wouldn’t be the last time that I did that. 

         As the final bell of the day rang I had my teacher bag all packed up and ready to go for a meeting with some colleagues.  I slung the bag over my shoulder and felt pain in my elbow. I looked and there was a cut followed a few seconds later by blood.  Really?  Really?  I had a large envelope sticking out of my bag and gave myself a paper cut.  On. The. Elbow!! Who does that?  Have you ever gotten a paper cut on your elbow?  I’m going to guess not.  I headed towards the part of the hallway where all of the teachers hang out and showed them my war wound.  Some of them were in unbelief and then remembered whom it was that did it. Others felt bad that I drew blood.  The men were indifferent.  One teacher, my birthday twin, said that because it was a large envelope that it wasn’t just a cut but a laceration and that she had kind of done the same before throwing her bag over her shoulder.  Then another teacher recalled that she too had done it.  Now, they didn’t draw blood from their experiences but when I thought I was alone in the weirdness of getting a paper cut….sorry, laceration, on my elbow these gals had almost experienced the same thing.  Almost.  I felt like I was now a part of this elite club of teacher’s who have slung their bags over their shoulders with too much force and hurt their elbows. 

         With a new spring in my step and blood about to come down my elbow I headed to the office to get a Band-Aid.  I figured I wouldn’t talk with them about tripping in the hallway because there might now be a teacher’s club for that.  And mercy, I didn’t want to look silly in front of my colleagues!