Saturday, April 03, 2010

Sometimes You Gotta Have A Little Class

I brought my knitting to school yesterday. I do that sometimes. Mostly, I don't get to it. But, you never know. Some days there's a free minute and you can forget the horrors of the middle school years while you mindlessly work a round or two.

Like I said, mostly I don't get to it. Which could go a long way towards explaining that twitch I sometimes get above my left eye...

Yesterday, however, was a half day for the kidlets. The teachers were to be herded into the library once the little darlings were released back into the wild. There we would be treated to an afternoon of workshops. I figured I could get there early and snag a seat in the back. I knew that knitting could happen from that most desired of chairs.

I got my seat, but never quite worked up the courage to break out the needles. The meeting was of the most decidedly "mandatory" variety and was advertised as a time when we would be getting Very Important Information. That alone might not be enough to keep the sock-in-progress tucked away, but the presence of the superintendent of schools right behind me most certainly was. Frankly, it was pure luck that I happened to glance back and see him there. The lady sitting in front of me who was using her school laptop to do a little shoe shopping didn't think to do a room scan before logging in and her screen was nicely visible to all of us behind her. I'm not sure if my knitting would have been raised to the level of a lesser sin by comparison, but I wasn't going to take the chance. It seemed best to take the high road and behave myself professionally. You want your boss to think you have a little class, after all.

As it was, I barely had time to quit out of Twitter before getting caught sharing my workshop woes...

In the absence of knitting progress, I shall instead share a lovely image from the Easter greeting Mommy Sheep sent me this morning. My mother is a retired elementary school teacher and was raised in the east coast traditions of refinement. She can (and does) use the word "shall" in regular conversation and if you think that's easy you should try it sometime. Seriously. You won't last an hour. My mother is not one to let an occasion pass without properly acknowledging it and, while she is now availing herself of more digital formats, she is no less aware of the etiquette required by the holiday calendar.

I trust that I am following in this tradition even though it is a day early. I shall be dining with family tomorrow and would hate myself if I did not honor the example set by those of my maternal line.



Happy Easter!



SA

9 comments:

sheep#100 said...

Yay for Mommy Sheep!

Sheepie, I eject my students if I catch them text messaging in my class. Just sayin'

Anonymous said...

I caught your tweet yesterday, but don't worry, I won't tell the super.

Julia G said...

Sometimes discretion is the better part of workshopping (turns out that quote is a line by Falstaff, and he should know from workshops). A very Happy Easter to the Sheep Clan!

Donna Lee said...

One of my favorite cards! I also opted not to knit during an inservice the other day. The Director and her boss were there and I thought it best to leave the knitting in the bag. Who'd a thought I'd grow up and develop some common sense?

Happy Easter.

Mia said...

omg.. that was too funny .. made me laugh out loud :) Enjoy the feasting :)

Karen said...

The kids got a half day on a Friday and the teachers had to stay. Not fair. In our town everyone had Friday off.
Happy Easter!

Anonymous said...

I hope you had a wonderful Easter filled with lots of chocolate bunnies (complete with ears and asses).

Kath said...

Personally I'd say yes, knitting definitely surpasses such frivolous pursuits as online shopping for acceptable practices during a meeting. People who bring laptops are just wimps - they want to fake out other attendees and make it look like they are Being Serious And Taking Notes, when clearly that is not the case! Knitters are far braver souls.

But if you want to really score points - say you are (and honestly be) knitting for charity. That works for me every time.

Knitting Linguist said...

Snortgiggle! I shall be sure to pass that card on to a few friends who will appreciate it as it should be appreciated. I'm sorry you didn't get to knit through your workshop -- I always get really twitchy when I have to sit through things like that without needles in hand, but superintendents can indeed put a cramp in one's knitting style.