Always Take A Shower

Last week, I had a Bargaining Support Team meeting in the morning. It is the dog days of summer right now, or even later, and we are preparing mentally to go back to school. But our union is currently bargaining a new contract with the district, and it isn't going well. I am a member of the Bargaining Support Team, as I've been all year, and this was our first meeting after the summer. A possible strike looms large on our horizon.

Anyway, I set my alarm to get up in plenty of time for coffee, a shower, and some quiet time before my meeting. I made coffee, and sat down at the computer. Soon, I looked at the clock and thought, "I'd better take that shower now." But I continued to surf the net. And drink coffee.

The moment passed, and it was too late for a shower. "Oh, well," I thought. "No big deal. It doesn't really matter to anyone I'll see at the meeting if I'm not freshly put together..." So I left for my meeting.

When I got to the meeting, I found out that it wasn't just the Bargaining Support Team. There was also a group of people from Washington Education Association, our "Crisis Team." I hate meeting people for the first time when I don't look my best...

Then, we were told that channel 4 news was going to be showing up to this meeting, as our meeting was all about preparing for a possible strike. The news guy showed up and the camera man stayed in our meeting room as we made signs. I did my best to keep out of the camera's way. I succeeded, as I later saw the news clip and didn't see me.

That afternoon, my family had decided to head over to my parents' house at the beach for the week. Again, I thought, "I don't need to take a quick shower. It's just my family, and it's late." So, no shower.

We got to my parents' place about 6:30 pm. Mom says we are going out to dinner. That surprised me, but it was still ok as the places around them to eat are not necessarily fancy. We went to this small, quirky restaurant that serves good food called The Ajax Cafe (the restaurant with hats). We got to the restaurant and were seated. Soon, a group of women come in. As they pass us, one sort of glances at me and waves. Then we both did a double take. It turned out to be a gal who worked as a sub when I first started to teach in Bellevue. I absolutely loved her, and every once in a while I run into her in the most unexpected places. But The Ajax Cafe was the most surprising place of all! I was really wishing I had showered, as she always lookes so put together.

But, we had our dinner. We were sitting there, waiting, I assumed, for the check. But no. Our waitress comes out from the kitchen carrying a little sundae with a candle in it. My birthday had been the day before (I turned 29...). Everyone in the restaurant looked at me, me without a shower that morning, and sang Happy Birthday.

I didn't take a shower that morning, and I regretted it three times that day...