The Panic

I heard about it this morning on the radio. I was driving to work when one of the DJs said it. Earthquake in Japan. 8.9. Yikes!

I've lived in Southern California my whole life, so I understand the whole Richter Scale thing. 8.9? That's a scary number.

Then the next thing the DJ said gave me chills. Tsunami. Headed towards So. Cal.

And I relaxed about a minute later. I was driving away from the coast. I would be too far inland for it to impact me.

I got to class. Math: classes of algebra 1 and algebra 2. I read through the lesson plans. Worksheets. Easy enough.

First period was algebra 1. They had heard about the coming tsunami too. And they were worried.

I explained that we were too far inland for it to hit us. I explained that if we were in any real danger, the school would have been evacuated. The administration has to keep abreast of such things, and they would implement plans if needed. We were safe. There was nothing to worry about.

They weren't buying it.

One girl asked if I could turn on the news. (We don't exactly have cable in the classroom.) I compromised and promised to turn on the computer and look on the Internet for news. That seemed to satisfy her.

Another student then helped panic the class by announcing something she had seen on her cell phone (which I didn't see her check, or that cell phone would now be in the office's possession). It was something about 7 foot waves. I tried to calm them, and eventually I succeeded, as I found another story online that said that Hawaii had sustained no major damage.

Then I concentrated on getting them to work on the algebra assignment. That didn't work out so well.