A Rare Friday… and Then.

It being a Friday, I knew not all could possibly be going as smoothly as it seemed. 

It was a joke, a trick.

I looked up phases of the moon to see if a full moon was scheduled.

Checked my email,

Expecting word from the Superintendent:

“All principals are to report for a Special Friday Night Board meeting.” 

Nothing.

I radioed my Assistant Principal.  Surely he was, at this very moment, entangled in a heated argument with a dozen or so 5^th graders, with which he would need my help to sort everything out and make phone calls home, letting parents know their sons would be suspended for a couple days next week. 

Nothing.

He was, in fact, taking advantage of the rare and quiet moment, eating lunch in his office.   A sandwich his wife had made him that morning.

I checked my watch. 

Double-checked it against the Master Clock, by which all things run in the school –

Fire drills and

Spirit Assemblies and

Washroom breaks and

Recess;

Lunch schedules and

Break times and

Lockdowns and

Testing schedules.

It was 2:00pm.

I could hear kids returning from PE, or Music, or perhaps, if they had been good –

A rare afternoon recess. 

I could hear teachers shushing the kids in the hallway. 

Making more noise than the kids. 

And still, nothing.

Which is okay. 

Really. 

I’ll take it, but it doesn’t usually happen, 

Not on a Friday.

My door opened.  The secretary.  With a phone in her hand.

“You’re going to want to take this one, sir.”

Ah, Friday.  Rare indeed.