This blog came to me as I was getting ready this morning. One of those shower epiphanies. Do you get those? What is it about the shower? This was one of those moments and it just made me smile. What I'm writing in the next paragraphs is just for fun about my very real experiences as a teacher turned business owner.
It's now been almost 3 months since I DIDN'T step into a classroom after 22 years and I have to say that my feelings are all over the place. I can liken it to having a baby. You never really know what it will be like until you do it. Then you realize that there are so many things that are harder than you thought, different than you thought, the same as you thought, more enjoyable than you thought, and weirder than you thought. Waking up on the first day of school and not joining the throng of morning rush hour drivers has been way more natural than I thought. I'm taking that as actually making a good choice for my life.
Back to my shower epiphany, I'm speaking for what I believe would be most teachers when I say that we know anything about the world outside of a school or jobs that aren't teaching. I've even talked to teachers about their spouse’s job. "What does your non-teaching spouse do?" "Something that's in charge of some people... in a big building." We have literally no idea that the planet is even spinning while in teacher mode. The world outside is a great unknown.
I've suddenly found myself existing with the non-teachers, seeing and even participating in some of what non-teachers do. Which brings me to four things I've observed other people do during a work day that teachers don't even know about.
FIrst, people are going everywhere. Like there aren't any empty streets or stores or sidewalks, or restaurants. Loads is happening in the city while teachers are inside the school building, unable to leave. People are doing all the things that teachers can only do in the evenings and weekends, but during all the other times of the day. It's so crazy!
Second, people go to the gym. One of the things I've heard teachers talk about is that they can't find time to train. Especially if you're a teacher who has a family. You're mentally exhausted after work (because teaching is mentally exhausting) and then you have to be a parent. Non-teachers find other times in the day to train! It's so amazing!
Third, people meet up with friends in the morning. I've just popped into a few cafes after dropping my daughter at school and I'm always amazed at the number of people having a legit hang out time... in the morning. Like don't you have to be somewhere? Doesn't everybody have a line of students who are waiting for them at 8am? And to that I would say no, some people have to be at the café, meeting their friends for a nice cup of coffee and a morning chat. Teachers don't have lunch in the world, let alone BREAKFAST IN THE WORLD! Of course you also see people who are tranquilly working on their laptops in a café (this could definitely be part of my epiphany as well), but its the number of people who I see just enjoying life, in the morning, it blows my mind. I literally had no idea!
Which perfectly flows into the final part of my epiphany. People go to restaurants for lunch. I think this has been the biggest shocker of all. The lunch world is something teachers only experience maybe once a year when there's an in-service day. But, this is something that happens for non-teachers all the time, maybe even everyday. They leave their workplace to have a legit break with restaurant food (lunch specials!) and adult conversation. Sometimes I've seen people sitting for a really long time and EVEN taking a cheeky beer! Unlike teachers who rush to eat, while telling off kids who are trying to pour salt into their friend's glass of milk. If anyone deserves a cheeky beer during the lunch hour, it's a teacher.
And there you have it! My shower epiphany. The quirky, less serious side of suddenly becoming a non-teacher. If you were nodding or smiling, this post did it's job. Until then, I hope everyone reading this finds time to do more of what they love during all parts of the day.