Friday, September 4, 2026

Absence Modified


Thursday, while sitting in the teacher's lounge/workroom in the main office, a job popped up on the subbing app. A job I was kind of shocked to see. 

The previous Friday, Mr. K at the continuation high school had texted me to see if I was available to sub for him the following Friday. I said no as I didn't know how long the vacant success class would go, and so I was booked through the week. 

I had assumed that Mr. K had put in the request that day. Apparently not. 

I don't look too closely when jobs pop up, because if I don't grab it quickly enough, I miss it. (I'll click "accept" and then be told that another sub was already assigned to the job.) It wasn't until I got the "successfully booked" message that I looked to see what I had snagged. 

I was surprised to see the assignment for the next day. But there was a problem. It showed as a half day, afternoon. This I knew to be wrong as the continuation high school only has morning classes on Fridays. 

So, I called the school. 

I knew the secretary could fix the assignment, and I knew which secretary to call. When the system picked up, it asked me to dial the extension of the person I wanted. And then it told me that extension didn't exist. Deep sigh. 

The phone list I had for the school was from the 2023-24 school year. 

Well, I knew the front office staff. I dialed O for someone to pick up, and I recognized the voice. "Hi, Shelly. Could you please transfer me to Sabrina?" 

And when Sabrina picked up, I identified myself and told her what had happened. 

She was hesitant to touch the assignment as she didn't want me to be booted from it. I assured her that I get "absence modified" notifications all the time. So, she fixed it, and I retained the assignment. 

Of course, part of me just wondered if something went wonky and put in a job that didn't exist. But no. Mr. K just put in his absence the day before. (He is out a lot. I think he's trying to fly under the radar sometimes with his sub requests.) 

Fridays are pretty mellow at the continuation high school. Not much happened. But at least I had the sweet, sweet air conditioning. (The kiddos complained it was too cold in the room. I. Did. Not. Care. It's been icky hot here.) 

8 comments:

  1. Hi Liz - I always enjoy reading about the ramifications of the work you do ... and how you get there! Glad you enjoyed the air-con - cheers Hilary

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  2. Today is Teaccher's Day in India. Happy Teacher's Day!

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  3. Once again, knowledge is power. Knowing staff made things so much easier during this incident. Side note: None of the schools I attended in my New York City childhood were air conditioned, but it is needed more and more with the climate changing.

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    1. When I was in high school, about half my classes were. So, I loved to go to math and science, as those rooms were nice and cool. And band. Oh, the band room had wonderful a/c. But French, English, and history were not air conditioned. Those classes were miserable on hot days.

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  4. When it's hot, the AC is really nice.

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  5. It is good to have a relationship with the powers in the office. Hot. How can kids not appreciate the chill of a/c.?

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