A Polite Mob

It had been a while since I caught a day at the adult transition center (February 2023, in case you wondered). And my year at the ATC ended in June 2022. 

(For those of you relatively new here, in November 2021, while we were back in school but under Covid restrictions, I caught a long-term assignment for a class whose teacher suddenly retired--because she refused to get vaccinated--at a school for 18-22-year-olds who are very special ed. Here's a link to my "atc" tag where I've collected all the posts from my experiences there.) 

Since it's been a while, I saw many new faces as many of the students I'd been with had finished or "culminated". Or were in other classes. I had one of the instructional aides from Ms. S's class. And Pizza. (Leanne was also in the class, but she was absent this day. Her mother had passed away the previous week.) 

It turned out to be CBI day. That stands for community based instruction, but what it means is we go off campus so the students can practice doing things in the community. Specifically, ordering lunch and paying for it. 

There were eight students and four staff (including me). 

We headed out to the mall. We caught the city bus. We walked the mall (it was busier than normal because December, but it wasn't crazy busy). We had lunch in the food court. (Unsurprisingly, Pizza went to Sbarro for pizza.) They all got to choose what they wanted from the various vendors. 

As we headed out to catch the bus to get back to the school, we stopped in Macy's to kill some time. (We headed out a little early to get Starbucks, but those lines were shorter than expected.) We headed upstairs on the escalator as Pizza needed a restroom. 

As we took over the escalator, Ms. D commented that we were a mob. I replied, "Yes, but we're a polite mob". Because they were. Very polite. Letting others go first. Waiting in line. Doing what one should in public.

I mean, that's the point of these trips, after all. 

It's good to get back there from time to time. Of course, this was the easier class. And it was good to get off campus.

(It was really good for me as I needed to pick up a Christmas gift, and we went right by the place I had planned to hit after work that day. Suddenly, I didn't need to make an extra trip on my way home. Hooray!)

That's All, Folks

Summer vacation descended upon me like:

I was going along, working daily, and then there was nothing. Smash. Bam. Done.

The full time teachers filled all the summer school teaching positions, so there will be no summer school class for me. (Although, those teachers might need a sub to fill in for a day here or there, so summer school is not completely out of the question.) 

And I spent last week suddenly without anything to do.

(The last day of school was June 1st. My last working day was the prior Friday. My end of year stats post will go live tomorrow.) 

Whatever am I going to do with my time? I'm going to do my best to enjoy it.

Last Wednesday, I decided I needed to make a Target run. I mean, I didn't really need anything, truly. Although, I picked up a few things that would make a couple projects I was working on work better. 

As I was driving into the parking lot, I noted a restaurant nearby. Pizza enjoys this place quite a lot, and he was in Mr. G's class this past year. And Mr. G's class went to that restaurant on Wednesdays as their usual CBI. 

Nah...

While in Target, I hear my name called. I turned. And sure enough, it was three of the instructional assistants from the adult transition center with a couple students in wheelchairs. 

They told me some of the other students were in the Target. (I did not run into them.) We talked for a bit, and then they were on their way. And I was on mine.

I think I would have been more shocked if I hadn't realized it was Wednesday and knew that that class would likely be there. It was nice to see them. I'm sure I'll get back to that school next school year. 

Now I get to find other things to occupy my time for a couple months. The blog now goes on summer schedule for however long I'm not working. 

(Summer school starts this week, and I'm on the subbing list, so I could work. That ends the week of the 4th of July. Right after that, the alternative education center opens for the month of July. The continuation high school starts the last two weeks of July. And the first day of school is August 10th.)

Flabbergasted

One of the goals of the adult transition center is to make the students more independent. They try to teach them things that they'll need to take care of themselves in the future. Like, they teach them how to go into stores and make purchases.

In practice that means that last Friday we went to the mall. 

The class of nine was broken up into three groups of three (a group each for me and the two instructional assistants). The students chose where they wanted to go. I got the group going to the farther mall. 

Why that mall? Sydney wanted to go to Steak Escape for lunch. 

I was warned by one of the IAs that the last time she took them there, the group didn't go into any stores. So, I was prepared to do a lot of walking and perhaps some of my own shopping. 

Surprisingly, as soon as we got into the mall, Eddy found a store he wanted to look in. And then another. And then another. 

Cool. We got there at nearly 11 AM, and we weren't due back to school until 2 PM. We had oodles of time. And neither Syd nor Flash had any desire to shop. 

(Flash is so nicknamed here because all he wanted to do was walk as fast as possible wherever he was going. I told him he could walk up and back outside the store while Eddy was inside.) 

And then Eddy found another store that he wanted to go in. And I just... 

It was Amazon Books.

Of course, I went in with him. I had to see this place. 

It's a bookstore. I gaped at it, looking at books and games and journals and Amazon devices. 

After we left, I vented to Syd. It was hard to express what I was feeling. I was feeling all sorts of feelings. Part of me thought it was cool. Part of me was amazed at the chutzpah of Amazon. Part of me felt like things had come full circle. 

There are other emotions. I haven't unpacked them all. 

Amazon Books. Am I the only one who's just *shakes head*?

Dollar Tree Grifter

I got called back to the adult transition center. It's been a while, but I remembered that they go out on Mondays and Fridays, so I wore my walking shoes.

It was Friday. The prior day, the class had voted on where they were going to go, and the Dollar Tree store won. It was less than a mile from the school, so we'd walk it.

Before we left, the instructional aide questioned each student on how much money they had. Then he told them how many things they could pick up. (Most were looking for coloring books.)

The students didn't take very long to make their selections. I stood at the front of the store, monitoring as they made their purchases. (The aide was still in the back, keeping an eye on the student who liked to go into the back, just because.) The line was long, so I kind of zoned out.

Then the cashier called me over. Naomi had handed her $3 for a purchase of over $6. Oops.

I asked the cashier to cancel the sale. Naomi and I needed to pare down her selections to two. Before the cashier could void the sale and before we stepped out of the long line, a woman behind us offered a $10 bill. She said she wanted to make up the difference.

Now, this was really sweet of her, but I declined. I assumed that the purpose of the exercise (them going out to a store and purchasing stuff) was for them to know how much they could afford and choose what they were going to purchase accordingly. I said something of the sort to the nice lady, and we moved aside.

Naomi picked out two from the six books she'd selected, and I had Naomi get back in line.

In short order, the rest of the class (on this day we had five students with us) finished their purchases, and we were on our way back to school.

While we were walking, I told the aide of Naomi's oopsie.

The aide told me that this was a pattern with Naomi. And not only that, this wasn't the first time that someone offered to make up the difference.

So, Naomi may have been anticipating some "help" with her purchase.

Sneaky girl.

Shop Handmade

Christmas shopping is hard. At least it is for me. (That's why I try to make most of my gifts.)

I get bored with all the mass-produced stuff out there. When I give a gift, I want it to be unique. Sure, that t-shirt sports a pithy one-liner, but then I see it in several different stores, and it no longer seems special.

But if you know where to look, you may end up with something that you can't find just anywhere.

I know I've mentioned my Etsy shop before. Etsy is a great place to find some unique items. (I've gotten my brother a couple t-shirts from different sellers. He seemed to like them. Although, I can never be sure with him.)

The point of this post isn't to promote my shop (again!), but rather to point out the importance of buying handmade this year. The news is filled with stories about the dire state of the economy. But when you support an artist or a small business, you are helping the economy. And you end up getting something unique to boot.

(You remember my ereader cozies, right?)


Support your local craft fairs. If you don't have one near you, check out crafters online, like on Etsy or the Handmade Craft Show or Cafe Handmade.

Do you know of any good places for Christmas shopping? Please share.

Shopping for Calendars

I had a whole other topic planned for today, but this day kind of got away from me.  I went out in search of calendars.  I do this every year around this time.

It was the perfect day for it.  The sun finally came out after days of rain (although, I hear that we're supposed to have another storm coming in a day or two).  So, I was able to drive all over town.

First, I hit Borders.  It's the closest.  They had a pretty good selection, and the store wasn't very busy.

I was surprised by one woman who was there with purpose.  She was frantically looking through all the planners.  She picked them up one by one, looked through them, and put them back.  I found it best to step back and get out of her way.  I thought she might knock me down.

The lines weren't too long, and I got out of there quickly.  But they didn't have one calendar that I buy every year.  I thought about it.  The sun was warm.  I figured I might as well drive to Barnes & Noble.

Barnes & Noble was a different story entirely.  They had a bit less of a calendar selection, and there was a major crowd.  However, they had the one calendar that Borders didn't, so the trip was worthwhile.

And as long as I was in that shopping center, I figured I might as well hit the yarn store...

My calendars have been purchased.  It is safe for 2011 to begin.

Avoiding the Crowds

I managed to avoid most of the crazy busy holiday shopping this year.  I got done way early (yeah!).  I only braved the mall once (not for my shopping but as the shopping buddy) on Saturday.

It was dark out and raining, and I could tell that the mall had been packed earlier in the day.  The stores were trashed.  But going out after 6 PM really made an impact on the crowds we saw.  They were very much thinned out.

Yesterday, I went to see my dad.  We braved Trader Joe's to get something to fix for dinner.

Finding what we needed took under 2 minutes.  The line at the register took a bit longer.  Then it was time to leave.  There was a line of cars 5 deep waiting to get out of the parking lot.  We turned the other direction, hoping that the other exit was less crowded.

Just as we turned, an elderly lady started to cross towards her car.  She must have been over 80.  She had an older gentleman (who appeared to be her son) with her.  And they were basically crawling across the parking lot.

I laughed so hard.

Eventually, the lady made it out of our way, and we were on our way.  Of course, by then the 5 cars had already exited the parking lot.

Why is it when you want to move quickly, something has to appear to slow you down?

The Annual Calendar Quest

Every year I wait until after Christmas to buy my calendar. Hey, it's 50% off.

I went today. The pickings were pretty slim. I guess people were out taking advantage of the after Christmas sales over the weekend.

From what calendars were left, I deduced:

1. Apparently, busy moms don't buy planners. There were many "busy mom" calendars and planners on the shelves. I guess moms are too busy to buy planners.
2. However, other planners were popular, as I didn't find much of a selection of those (and I was looking for a good planner--that's how I keep track of my subbing schedule).
3. Animal lovers weren't out in force either. I saw a whole rack of cat, dog, bird, horse, and other animal calendars. If there were that many left over...
4. But I didn't find the usual bunch of castle and scenery calendars. Sigh. That's what I wanted.
5. There were a bunch of Harry Potter calendars. I guess he's fallen from popularity.

Since I wait until now to go, I'm fine with choosing from what's left over. I'm satisfied with my choices.

The other thing--the shelves were a mess. I'm glad I wasn't shopping there this past weekend. It must have been a madhouse.