There should be some law prohibiting the natural aging process… for some reason I can’t understand why I can not do the same things I did when I was 20 years old. For instance “getting into shape”… the jury is still out as to exactly what “shape” this is, but lets just say I am trying to rid myself of the flab that has accumulated from many years of a desk job. I have now (at least for a week) dedicated myself to eating right and exercising to improve the overall quality of my life… Ok now I sound like a Slim Fast ad! Anyway I woke up this morning with a stabbing pain in my lower back. You know the kind, that gently reminds you that you are not a kid any more and physical activity can now be painful! (Didn’t I spin around on my toes when I was 18)? I bonded a bit too quickly with the elliptical machine last night and now my muscles were telling me about it.
I already dreaded coming to work; Debbie had taken the day off to go on a field trip with her youngest and now I would have to actually take care of myself!! One of these daunting tasks included talking to the district about hiring campus supervisors. Now my loving secretary, Debbie, had yelled at me the day before because I had emailed them requesting a new security officer… you see, when I email, she has to actually talk to them! And… these conversations are never a couple minutes; and they usually transpire into at least ten phone calls! So without my Debbie, I was forced to deal with them myself!! She did call in a sub-secretary for me that I probably scared off, but did manage to come back after lunch! I did a little discipline… was forced to move more than I typically like to… which produced giggles amongst the clerical staff when I attempted to walk with my sore “rumpus maximus”!
All was well in the land of Royal, until five minutes before the final bell. Anytime you see a principal run (in our cases walk quickly) with a radio in their hand, you know it can’t be good. My first mistake was to look up… he pointed to the door and said “Let’s go.” Obviously this man forgot that I was in pain… but I limped behind him with giggles following me from the office staff.
Now one thing that impressed me about California schools is the sheer size of the campuses… lockers are on the outside of buildings and there is a lot of “green” areas for the students to hang out. This also means a lot of areas to supervise. Most schools have purchased golf carts to assist their “out of shape” school administrators to get across campus quickly. I jumped in the cart… ok it was more like a “hop” and off he went. I asked, “And just where are we going”? He said he had just gotten a call from a parent that a large group of Hispanics were gathered at our Hudspeth gate and they thought there was going to be a fight. Now these stereotypes bother me… if they are “brown kids” they must be in a gang, if they are “yellow kids” they must be going to study, if they are “black kids” they are going to rob and steal, and let’s not forget about those “white kids” who have actually formed a white supremacist gang and are wandering around town beating up the “brown” kids. Nevertheless, off we went.
When we arrived at the east side of campus… there were no kids, of any color. Then we received a call that six Latinos were walking in front of the school… that must be them, so off we sped, hitting all the bumps, to the north side, only to find a couple of my truants who had decided to begin the long weekend a hour early. But… there were no gangs roaming about the campus. About that time, three black and whites (police units) pulled into the lot. I guess the same over zealous parent had phoned them as well. I am teased about my love for the “Po Po” but by this time my behind had taken all the speed bumps it could handle… so got out of the cart, walked to the officers car, and demanded he “move his junk” to the trunk because I needed rescued!
I rode with SVPD around town to all the “hot spots” our kiddos like to fight, but there was no sign of planned group activities anywhere. All we saw was vacant parks because all the kids wanted to get home to begin the long weekend, as did their school administrators!
The moral of this story is “brown kids” have friends too. When they are standing around talking it doesn’t mean that they are plotting to fight somewhere. If you see a group of kids (of any race) who are dressed alike throwing gang signs that is probably the time to get concerned. There is no reason to assume that just because a kid is a certain race they will be involved in an illegal activity. Kids just want to be with their friends. Before you frantically call the school or the police department please make sure you have a good reason. It could be you are keeping them from doing something important like helping a school administrator with a sore rump.
