Suspended for Cell Phone

I met Beatriz at the beginning of the school year in this same class. She took an instant dislike to me. (That's putting it mildly. She developed a deep-seated hatred of me on sight.) So, when she saw that I was her sub for the day, she was not pleased. She had some not nice things to say about me which she said outside the door to the class before class started.

Of course, I could hear everything.

Beatriz started off challenging me right away. And as I was only going to be there for two days, I wasn't planning on getting into it with her. If she wasn't going to do any work, it was her grade. I heard her say something about the continuation high school, and I laughed to myself. If she's really going there soon, she's going to be seeing a lot more of me.

But this is just the set-up.

Beatriz and her friends thought it would be funny to play their music on their cell phones. Or maybe they weren't thinking. I gave them the usual warning (that is, I told them to put them away or I would take them away). They put the phones away.

And I knew immediately that I had been too lenient. The rest of the class let me know. They didn't say anything, but their manner told me loads.

Oops.

But there was no help for it now. I couldn't very well go and take Beatriz's cell phone from her when it was where it was supposed to be--away in her pocket or her backpack. (I don't know where it was. I didn't see it.)

I got busy helping another student.

I turned to go back to the front of the room. I glanced Beatriz's way and saw sitting on her desk--her cell phone. Now I had cause. I held out my hand.

"You're not taking my cell phone."

She had been warned. In fact, I don't have to warn her. School policy states that a seen or heard cell phone can be confiscated. So, I was well within my rights...

She wouldn't give it to me. So, fine. She gets a referral. (She refused to follow my instructions.)

This is already getting long, so I won't go into the argument she gave me over that referral. Eventually she left. After school I checked. She never made it to the office.

Okay, fine. Now she gets a referral for not only not giving up her cell phone but also for not going to the discipline office.

At the end of the next day I checked in with the discipline office. Curiosity. Did they talk to Beatriz? Turns out, Beatriz ended up suspended from school. Over a cell phone.

(The punishment for having a cell phone out: cell phone gets confiscated. A parent can pick up the cell phone after school the same day. End of punishment. And considering this all happened 6th period, Beatriz would have lost her cell phone for maybe a half hour.)

I am not looking forward to seeing her again. Although, the look on her face when she finds out I'm at the continuation high school all the time... Might be worth it.

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter...

Have you ever hated someone on sight? Have you ever taken something so minor to such an extreme?