A new post? YES!

Today I had a brand new experience as a teacher: I realized that one of my students stole from me. Some of the people who read this – maybe even both of you – might believe I should have expected it, but I disagree. Because the transmission in my Volvo is nearly destroyed, I’ve been commuting on public transportation for the last two weeks. This has actually allowed me to catch up on the podcasts to which I subscribe. That means I have my iPod with me all the time. Yesterday after my last period I rushed off to get to the soccer game I was coaching. In the process I left my iPod on a sort of hidden corner of my desk. The room is always locked from outside, and I was not at all concerned that the custodian might take it. I also left my laptop on my desk. When I came back from the game I didn’t even think about the iPod, because I was getting a ride to the train station with another teacher/coach, and because the downpour during the game had left me completely soaked.

Once the train started taking me south to Long Beach, though, I did think of the iPod. I didn’t think of it again until this morning, when I checked my stuff to make sure I had left it in my room. And then I thought of it when I got to my room. But looking around, especially where I thought I’d left it, I found no trace of the iPod.

I was frustrated by that, but didn’t worry about it too much. After school I saw the custodian who cleans my room and asked him if he’d seen it. He said no, but that he had let a student in to find a book he’d forgotten. Then he described the student. I knew precisely who it was, because the student had come in that morning to “check” for his book.

It’s not my personality to assume the worst of people, and usually I would think that he really was just checking to see if his book was in my room. But instead, I think he was covering his tracks a little bit. And that’s frustrating. I’m going to seek him out tomorrow, because he wasn’t in my class today.

One last note: I’m trying to get a better schedule figured out so that I can use my commute time to write blog posts. I’ve been thinking about it for a while, but this is the first one I’ve actually composed on my way to or from school. It feels good.

(One last note: my iPod was of the last generation before they all went color. That's right, the kid who stole my iPod will probably not find a market for it, because it is completely obsolete.)