next week it is

Well, shite.

Enterprise definitely adds the cost of rental on top of the $200 security deposit, so I can't afford to rent a car this week. I've already called Collision Experts to let them know I'll be dropping off my car on November 5, and I've called Progressive to let them know the same. In the meantime, I need to worry about my own safety: a park ranger at Skyline Drive glanced at my left front tire yesterday and declared it "a little on the low side," which makes me think I've got a slow leak. I'm going to go back to the Wal-Mart I'd gone to recently to get my new front tires, and will ask them to replace either one or both of those tires again. Since I got the original new tires only a couple weeks ago, I'm hoping that I'm under some sort of warranty. If not, I can at least afford to shell out for both tires (approx. $164).

What a week this is already shaping up to be. And then on Wednesday, I have the privilege of teaching Devil Child again. One of our more serious coworkers handled DC last week, and did pretty well with him-- better than the rest of us, I'd venture, although DC did start to become his normal, antsy self around the 70-minute mark.* DC obviously responds to a no-nonsense, authoritative style. I may steal some of my coworker's strategies, for what they're worth, although I'm not hopeful that those strategies will translate well into my teaching style. With DC, I have to be the opposite of who I normally am: normally, I'm cheerful, jokey, and fast-talking. With DC, I have to switch off all the humor because I know he'll take any hint of levity and run with it, making loud, lame jokes or booming stupid pronouncements that highlight his vast ignorance and unwillingness to learn new things. You might argue that DC's only a kid-- just a fourth-grader-- but I've seen plenty of fourth-graders, in my time at YB, who are quiet, focused, and attentive.

The first time I worked with DC, he loudly asked, "Are you on meds?" I knew, at that point, that this kid was going to be a fucking rude pain in the ass. And yeah, I still think that his obnoxious incompetence marks him as a future CEO.

Hey-- let's give this kid a pseudonym so that I don't have to keep calling him "Devil Child." Let's call him "Iblis," which is close enough to his real name, and is also the Muslim designation for Satan.

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*I've noted to our office staff, several times, that DC really needs to come for one-hour sessions. I don't know whether my fellow teachers might back me up on this, but I'm hoping that, if we can build a chorus, the office might see fit to inform DC's parents of the need for a change. The problem, though, is that our office tends to kowtow to the parents' wishes (we're supposed to have a "teachers don't talk with parents" policy, for example, but I talk with parents semi-routinely when the parents request a moment to confer), which doesn't bode well for a schedule change. In addition, the parents have noted that DC's performance in school has markedly improved ever since he began working with YB (no credit to me; I've had the little monster only twice thus far, whereas Lily [not her real name] has had him seven or eight times), which means the creature's going to keep right on coming to our center.

This reminds me of that old SNL sketch with John Belushi: "The Thing That Wouldn't Leave." In this sketch, a slobbish, obnoxious Belushi torments a mild-mannered couple played by Bill Murray and Jane Curtin. Curtin screams in horror every time Belushi declares another reason not to leave. Murray lamely insists that Belushi quit the premises, but no dice. I wish I could find the original video, but a quick search on YouTube and Google Video reveals nothing (unless the sketch is part of a larger video clip with a different title).

Oy gevalt.


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