Thought I'd give this a go again!
Enjoy.
HOMEWORK – THE EARLY DAYS OF…
The first reports went unnoticed, so what if they had a new virus in China, it didn't affect us. But as the days and weeks went by the number of infected people grew, not only in China but worldwide. Ex-pats living onsite wanted to come home from a country shutting down. And that, folks, is how a global pandemic is caused. The number of contagious carriers all over the world was astronomical. People were hoarding toilet paper and dry goods, water, and disinfectant everywhere. The information of what to do was contradictory from one country to another. Some shut down completely and others went on like nothing was wrong. The infected people started to fill the hospitals, all staff running ragged. Nothing seemed to help, there was no cure for this. The number of casualties continued to grow daily. This disease didn't care if you were young or old, sick or healthy, rich or poor. It spread like the Black Plague in the Middle Ages. Businesses were forced to shut down and people were told to stay home. Ever so slowly people began to understand. This was no joke. This wasn't something happening somewhere else, to someone else. It was right at our front door.
The school board made the decision to do distance teaching.
"Ok class, listen up! The school board has decided to go viral in teaching. So, this is the last day we'll see each other until this blows over. Hopefully soon. Is there anyone who doesn't have a personal computer at home?"
"I'm sharing with my sister."
"Does your sister attend MSH?"
"No, she's at North Beach Elementary, she's only ten."
"Anyone else? No? We'll see what we can do to get you a laptop of your own. Does anyone have an old or unused computer that Mary could borrow for now?"
"I'll ask my dad, they recently upgraded and there might be some left."
"Thank you, Julie, will you let Mary know asap."
"Can I call him now?"
"I don't want you disturbing him during his workday, this evening will do fine."
"It's ok, he said he only has paperwork today. He'll be glad for the interruption, trust me. Hi, daddy! Do you have any extra laptops left?"
"Well hello to you to querida. I'm fine, thanks for asking. What extra laptops are you talking about?"
"Didn't you do a computer overhaul at the office a little while back? Were there any computers left over?"
"Why do you want to know?"
"We're going viral as of tomorrow and Mary has to share their computer with her sister. It would be great if you could lend her one of the old ones."
"Yeah, we made the change, not just here in Miami, but all locations. The computers would need to be reset to be used again. Is there anyone else in need?"
"My dad wants to know if there's anyone else in need of a computer?"
"Julie, are you in class?"
"Yes dad, but Mickie said it was ok to call you."
"I bet she didn't give permission to call during class."
"She said it could wait till the evening, but why wait, right?"
"Yeah, why wait indeed. Let me speak with her, please."
"Mickie, my dad wants to talk to you. Bye, dad."
"Hello, Ranger."
"Well, hello, Babe. Haven't heard much from you lately."
"I know, it's been really busy with teacher's meetings and planning committees on how to do this as easy as possible for everyone. How are you?"
"I'm good, missing you though. Any chance of maybe seeing you in the near future?"
"It's always a possibility." I'd really want to see him, it's been too long.
"How about you come for dinner tonight?" Please, say yes.
"I can do that. Sevenish?"
"Seven's fine. I'll see you then, Babe."
"Wasn't there something else you wanted to know?"
"Ah, yes, the reason for this call, the extra computer. We've got about 350 laptops and 30 desktops left unused. How many do you need?"
"Wow, just like that you're willing to give away almost four hundred computers?"
"Consider it a contribution to the school, and it's tax write-off as charity. Win-win."
"Win-win indeed. I know there are a lot of students with siblings who'll be in need of computers as more and more schools are shutting down. I don't know how to thank you enough Ranger."
"Please, I told you to call me Carlos. I could get you the first forty or fifty machines by the end of today, the rest maybe in a week. They'll need to be 'cleaned' and reset and sent from the other offices."
"Thank you, Carlos, that's so generous of you. I'll organize the distribution here with the faculty and other teachers, and then reach out to schools that have siblings of our students. How does that sound?"
"It sounds terribly efficient, Babe."
"Well, that's me, the efficient one. So efficient in fact that I've let my students sit around and play with their phones during this conversation instead of giving them a task for homework."
"I'll let you go on with your lesson and I'll see you later."
"I'll see you later Carlos, thank you. Bye."
"Bye, Babe."
"Ok, class, for your next assignment I want you to go home and find some cotton fabric, elastics, and a dinner plate. I'll do a mask-making tutorial tomorrow or Friday. It'll be held on the Teams platform, so you need to download that. On this paper, which I'm going to distribute, you'll find all the necessary downloads for attending school from home. Try to find a quiet place to study, now more than ever, it's important that you don't have disturbances around you. The responsibility to succeed for the rest of the term relies mostly on you. Your schedule is the same, the teachers are the same only the location will change."
"So, we'll have to get up in the morning even though we stay at home. Bummer."
"Yes, you need to get up, have breakfast and, this is important, please, be dressed. You're going to be on camera almost all day and we wouldn't want to see you in your Batman pajamas at three thirty pm. Try to keep your days as normal as possible. Eat a good breakfast, a healthy lunch that won't leave you tired for the rest of the day, and do what exercises you can at home."
"Can we go to the gym?"
"I can't forbid you from going to the gym or anywhere else, but most of those services are closing anyway."
"No one can tell me not to go out with my friends to the movies or the mall. It's my constitutional right."
"Actually, Lucas, since you're a minor, it's your mom and dad who gets to decide if you go out or not. Sorry."
"So, if no one tells me I can't go, I can, right?"
"I would strongly urge every one of you to stay at home, interact with others outside your immediate family as little as possible, and if you absolutely have to go out; wear a protective mask all the time and remember to wash your hands and use hand sanitizer."
"My uncle says it's just the flu, it'll pass like it always does. He's not wearing a mask anywhere, they're a waste of money. Use it once then throw it away."
"Is your uncle married?"
"No, you interested? I'll give you his number. I'll bet he'd love to meet you."
"No, but thank you, Robert. Does he date?"
"Yeah, he's out almost every weekend. Grandpa says it's young boys being young boys. I don't think of him as young, he's old, like thirty or something."
"Thank you for pointing out that thirty is old, but my point in this matter is; he says it's a waste of money to protect your own health and of those around you with a non-reusable item. I suppose he's sexually active and uses protection?"
"Well, he's got two kids so I suppose so."
"You said he's not married but got two kids?"
"Yeah. Liana's eight and Alex is four. He sees them on alternating weekends. His place isn't big enough and Leila and Sofia, the mothers, hate each-others guts. Mostly he has them at my grandma's house that's where I've met them."
"Class, can anyone name the one thing that with its single-use, would have protected Robert's brother from this incident? Or in this case two incidents. And I'm not talking about face masks."
"A condom,"
"Yes Tiina, that's right, a condom. That's also something we'll cover during this project. It's going to spread around all topics but mainly in the 'Live a year' part. We got out of topic but it's important for you to know that you can always talk about these things with me or any adult. The more you know, the more you know, and you can make educated decisions. Remember, all your actions have consequences."
"We already know about contraceptives, we had that lesson in sixth grade."
"I know you did, but it never hurts to be repeated. We're going to finish for now, but remember, you can call or e-mail me or any other of your teachers at any time, and hopefully we'll be back to normal soon. Take care and stay safe."
There was a chorus of goodbyes as the students exited the classroom. Blissful quiet. No time to sit around, things to do, people to see and computers to distribute.
TBC