Grumbling

I grumbled through the day yesterday, indulging my inner curmudgeon. Early in the morning we’d received a text announcing a stand-up Zoom staff meeting regarding staffing for next year.

The thing is, our district has had a habit of announcing bad news late on Friday afternoons. And here we were, the Friday before Spring Break. What else could it be but bad news? So, I grumbled through the day.

The last ten minutes of the last class were excruciating. My mind whirled. Will they tell us how our staff will be decimated by the opening on the new middle school in Fall? I wondered. Will they name names? Ask for volunteers?

Time ticked slowly. I said good bye to my students, logged out or one Zoom meeting and into another. (I am so looking forward to a lot less screen time over Spring Break!) I kept both my mic and camera off – all the better to grumble through the meeting. Which, it turned out, wasn’t the meeting I’d expected.

Instead of bad news about cuts to our staffing because of the new school, we got bittersweet news. One of our two Vice Principals will be an elementary school principal next year. It’s exciting news for her, but sad for us.

I’d like to think I learned a lesson from yesterday’s meeting, but I know I didn’t. I will be grumbly when the next stand-up Zoom staff meeting is announced. I will hope that the news isn’t too bad. If I expect the worst, I am never disappointed.