5- Bud Lite

Every Friday, my team of teachers gathers for our Grade Level Meeting. This provides us an opportunity to touch base and plan what we need to teach. We’re supposed to stay at the same pace within each subject area and will often write lessons together. So far, I really like the women I work with. There’s Esther, who has been teaching for 25 years and says she’s about to retire. Esther is a grandmotherly Southern Belle with impeccable manners. She obviously comes from money, because she wears an excessive amount of gems and drives a Lexus. Then there’s Caroline, a thin blonde from New Jersey who is in her mid 30’s. She seems standoffish, with her Yankee ways, and could be easily misinterpreted as rude, but is really a delightful lady who loves her students. I suspect that Caroline has a bit of a wild streak.
Today we met in Caroline’s classroom. We sat on shortened chairs, at a shortened table, and I inspected Caroline’s classroom, taking mental inventory of her clever posters and charts. As I scanned, my eyes settled on a startling object. I hesitated for a second and then blurted out, “Caroline!”
Esther and Caroline stopped their chatter and followed my gaze. Resting on the top shelf of Caroline’s closet, amid two dozen cans of seltzer water was one shiny can of Bud Lite.
Beer in the classroom.
I started laughing. Esther looked stunned. Caroline freaked out. The Yankee jumped up and snatched the can off the shelf, and shoved it into her giant teacher handbag.
Apparently, Caroline likes to bring cans of seltzer to drink during the day. The seltzer and the Bud Lite cans are the same size and same silver color, so she must have grabbed the beer by mistake when packing up at home. Funny. Funny, but not funny. She could have lost her job. We all agreed that it was a good thing Principal didn’t spot the beer. And a good thing Caroline didn’t crack open and slurp down a Bud Lite during lunch today!
Caroline’s beer put a smile on my face for the rest of the day.