This was the week of excitement and idealism for most of us AISD teachers. The week we dream about what a wonderful school year it’s gonna be, set up our classroom, dust off, modify or create brand-spanking new lesson plans, pray not to have a crowded class size and run around to get everything else straight in our lives. So, on Wednesday after school when I headed to my car, plotting out all the things that I needed to purchase in order to complete setting up my room, I was not pleased to see the crack in my windshield.
Although it was interesting to see how the increasing temperature during the day had caused the crack to snake around the tempered glass, I knew that I wanted it repaired before the students returned. I cursed that this windshield situation would cost me valuable time that I didn’t want to use. Before going to bed, I decided to take my car into the dealership early Thursday morning, ride their courtesy shuttle to school and then ask a coworker to take me to the dealership once the deed was done.
Blow number two came when the guy at the dealership told me that they didn’t replace windshields. He gave me the contact information for a company that the dealership used in such cases. Promptly after 8, I called them, seeking an appointment for Friday morning. Before I could ask about a courtesy shuttle, the guy informed me that the repair guy would come to me. When I asked for clarification, I was too excited to discover that I’d heard him correctly: the repair guy would come to my school in order to replace the windshield!
I didn’t even know such modern convenience existed. Not only that, but the repair guy came a little after 9, happily parked beside my car since he’d found it in the parking lot without my assistance. I left him with the spare key, confirmed that he had my cell number and then returned to my classroom. Despite the fact that I had to pay a pretty penny for the convenience, I still stayed on track with getting my classroom together. And the second silver lining is that my car insurance fully covers it.
Ah, if this is the start of good mojo for the new school year, I’ll definitely take it.