school excursion
i had duty of care for 23 children in the underground bus station. their translator and chaperonne had asked if she could leave early rather than help me take them back to school. her apartment was in the city and she didnt want to take the same bus twice. for some reason i said yeah ok, fair enough.
the duck whistle i'd been honking all day gave me a lot of confidence to keep the students safe; it was loud and direct and gave me all the verbal assertiveness i normally lack. but when i got to the yagan square bus station, some students had gone far beyond the vanishing point, and several were still behind me, messing round on the escalators. three students had beelined for the kiosk to buy hot oil sausages. i was blowing my duck whistle as loud as i could, trying to gather everyone together, and even though it was considered a public disturbance, it worked. i counted 23 heads and felt relieved, but then when 20 of the students saw that 3 were eating hot oil sausages, they ran to the kiosk, and because we had been walking around all day, i had promised we would get something to eat on the way home, so i couldn’t ethically stop them from ordering food. i waited for the twenty students to each purchase a hot oil sausage, and was impressed that the kiosk lady had anticipated the unusual demand for hot oil sausages, and had prepared change for twenty $100 notes.
midway through the line, a student who could understand the timetable shouted BUS and pointed at the boarding 402. the students who had their food ran towards the platform, but the rest stayed in the kiosk line. wait wait! i tried to shout, but my mouth was full of hot oil sausage, so i couldnt use my duck whistle.
i just gestured to everyone in the food line that we were leaving, and i walk-ran with them to the platform, but when i turned my head, i saw that two girls were still waiting in the kiosk line. shit, wait wait wait, i said to the bus driver, my smartrider isn’t working. i made a big show of rifling through my change pocket and picking out all the smallest coins and counting them one by one. i couldn’t stall forever and when i turned my head i saw that the two girls had finally received their food and were now walking to the bus at a carefree pace. i stepped out of the bus with one hand barring the door and with my duck whistle delivered several ear piercing honks. the girls began to run, getting to the bus just as it closed.
i tried to count 23 heads again, but it was very difficult as the children were dispersed amongst various annoyed commuters. i had almost counted when the bus driver told me to bloody sit down, so i leant against the priority seat and tried to have faith that i had not left anyone behind. the bus was filled with the smell of hot oil sausage and the sound of open mouth chewing. i wished i had taught the students about bus etiquette, but really, it was my last day working at the school and i wasn’t going to see them again. you shouldn’t have to pay any mind to how people think of you or the students or the reputation of the school because your job self is not your real self right?