I know I probably sound like an inspiring teacher and an awesome human being (ya humility isn’t actually one of my strengths). But I’m fully aware of my flaws.
The most lethal being - when I get flustered with too many things on my mind or hands, I tend to lose things.
Case in point: I lost one of my son’s first pair of shoes while bringing him back home from the Polyclinic. I don’t know. I was carrying him in the baby carrier; the shoe must have fallen off then.
My wife and I then searched two hours everywhere for the missing shoe. In vain.
Let’s just say that she was not in the least bit amused that day.
Which brings me to yesterday. Two kids, their school bags PLUS the FOMO feeling because my department was making merry somewhere, toasting cheers to a departing colleague BUT I had to rush home to take care of my kids. AGAIN.
Mental baggage weighs like a ton of bricks, I swear. 🧱
Anyway, the unthinkable happened. When I reached home and took out my staff card + laptop card, I realised that the cardholder was MISSING.
Oh my days.
F.
To explain the context, our education system dishes out a laptop 💻 to every secondary school student. Students keep their laptops in a cabinet inside their homeroom. The laptop card is to open the cabinet.
My mind was a blur. I immediately sulked.
You see, I had actually lost my staff card late last year. I lost it AGAIN! This is not gonna work wonders for my carefully manicured brand!
I was also wondering if I had to make a police report for the laptop card. But it was so silly - I didn’t know where I had misplaced the cardholder. Neither was there any identification on the laptop card.
I went out immediately to search for my precious cards. Nay. Couldn’t find them. I had to rush back home because it was crunch time and I definitely needed to shower my kids!
Later in the night, an idea hit me. Maybe I had dropped my holder at the outdoor playground after picking up my kid.
So even though it was Labour Day holiday today, I woke up at 6.30am. I just had that instinct that I needed to follow through. Mind you, given my klutz nature, I didn’t allow myself to have high hopes.
Omg, I found the cardholder in the playground! This was a Christmas miracle! My reputation as an efficient and effective educator remains intact.
Now imagine. If I had resigned myself to fate and pooh-poohed the idea that my cardholder might be waiting for me at the playground, I would have landed myself in an energy-sapping situation.
Asking my operations manager to make a new staff card again.
Confessing to the IT manager about the laptop card.
Apologising to my colleagues because the IT manager would have to revoke their laptop cards as well.
It would have been an unpleasant week, for sure.
So, Sensei’s lesson for this Labour Day: always think on the bright side!
Thank you. ☺️