Friday, the 13th is supposed to happen next week, on the 13th July. However, it seemed a series of unfortunate events just decided to spring earlier on me this week.
1. (Thankfully,) Monday was a school holiday. If not, God knows what other stunts could have befallen me. Tuesday, I arrived in school to find a post-it on the office desktop - 'Students are not allowed to use this computer'. Apparently, while diligently trying to practise for Oral Examinations with some of my students, I forgot that students should not be allowed into the staffroom. Even if they should be, not so many of them should be let in at one go. Even if only a few come in each time, they should not be allowed to anyhow sit on and leave anywhere the teachers' chairs. And even if they put everything in their proper places before they leave, they should not be allowed to touch things that do not move, ie. the desktop and things on teachers' tables, which translates to no watching of videos on the computers. If anything, it was my fault for not informing the students the undesirable consequences of the actions mentioned above, all of which I did not disallow. So I had to apologise to some of the teachers in my staffroom. Thankfully they were gracious enough to allow me to learn from my mistakes and not make a big hooha out of it.
2. Then, my CCA students did not put up a good show during their rehearsal for a performance. Everyone was downcast and disappointed with themselves. But I have this to say to them:-
Bad Day
Oops, I heard we missed a beat that day
We were so stunned we froze like clay
The mistake threw us into disarray
From then on we just couldn't play
For a moment, I thought I heard 'hurray'
Why they so un-pro, I dunno leh
I thought we could pick up along the way
But alas, we had to end in dismay
Well, sometimes mistakes are like tau huay
You just have to gulp them down either way
Mashed-up or as it's laid on the tray
As long as you do it with seh
So listen up folks, as you now lay
Down whatever happened on Thursday
Pick up your spirits and just say 'chey'
Take it that you had a bad day
Come Tuesday, 10th of two months after May
We'll be gathered in much the same way
This time round, we'll show them who has the final say
Don't play play, I repeat ah, don't play play
Oops, I heard we missed a beat that day
We were so stunned we froze like clay
The mistake threw us into disarray
From then on we just couldn't play
For a moment, I thought I heard 'hurray'
Why they so un-pro, I dunno leh
I thought we could pick up along the way
But alas, we had to end in dismay
Well, sometimes mistakes are like tau huay
You just have to gulp them down either way
Mashed-up or as it's laid on the tray
As long as you do it with seh
So listen up folks, as you now lay
Down whatever happened on Thursday
Pick up your spirits and just say 'chey'
Take it that you had a bad day
Come Tuesday, 10th of two months after May
We'll be gathered in much the same way
This time round, we'll show them who has the final say
Don't play play, I repeat ah, don't play play
3. Then when the students returned late from their rehearsal on Thursday, I could not return the keys to MANY rooms in time. So I decided I will remember to return the following day, which I did - but a tad too late. I arrived in school on Friday morning and returned only SOME of the keys. The rest? I saw them on my table, but decided, against better judgement, that practising for Oral Examinations (again) with my students was more important. So I left the keys there happily and proceeded on with practising for the Oral Exams and then my lessons. By the time my whole slew of lessons ended at 11am, meteorites had already struck earth, bounced off and struck earth again, ie disaster had struck, without me knowing, many times over liaoz. Apparently, and obviously, some teacher(s) needed the keys which I were holding to open rooms so they could conduct lessons. And we are talking about formal, in-the-timetable, takes-precedence-before-all-things lessons here. And there began a frantic search for the keys, but to no avail, obviously. To cut the long story short, it was only when I returned the keys that I realized the gravity of the situation. The VP was duely unhappy and she made a mention of this fiasco during the staff meeting in the afternoon, which I did not attend due to Oral Examinations (again!) commitments. However, I did 'confess my sins' to her the moment I found out my mistake. My bad, I admit. I should have returned ALL the keys the first thing in the morning.
4. And while 'confessing my sins', I realized I made another boo-boo by applying for a course that will take place during lesson time, which means I'll have to miss school in order to attend the course. Actually, I know very clearly in my mind that I should only apply for courses after lesson time, so I'm still bewildered why I did not do that. Its either the timing of the course was not clearly stated and I assumed or I was just in a daze when I was applying for the course. And to think I was still excited about the happening course. Now I just feel rather guilty.
5. To top it all off, I had to be at 2 places at the same time on Saturday - my home class' CIP and CO practice. Initially the plan was to go for CO first, then rush down to CIP. However, something cropped up and I had to go for CIP AND CO at the same time. But according to all natural laws, I could not do that (and I also, sadly, do not live in a fairytale world). So I had to rush down to school to open doors for CO practice and then rush off for CIP. And it definitely did not help that it was pouring extremely heavily (and irritatingly, especially for that morning), which meant I could not leave my students alone for CIP. So I rushed to school in the heavy rain and then rushed to Pasir Ris in the heavy rain too. And it also did not help that some reporter was coming down to take photos of CO in action, which meant I had to be around. In a nutshell? Just an amazingly mis-matched basket of activities that decided to happen on the same day, amalgamating in a wonderfully disgusting pile of nonsense for me. Thankfully, God is good. He provided a colleague to help stand in for me for CO for that couple of hours. He also provided able student leaders, both in my class and CO, to maintain the situations while I was rushing to reach either sides. Phew.
The lesson learnt here - God definitely has to be in control of all things lah.. If not how to survive such dreadful days (and weeks). So if you still think everything just happens in a chaotic fashion, you've got to be kidding. Wake up! Thank You, Lord, for Your wonderful provision, for watching over me in my sleeping and waking up (I totally did not hear my alarm clock ring one morning - thank God He woke me up in time at 614am), in my coming in and going out. I know for sure all things are held in Your hands and that Your plans are sovereign, at all times.
Disclaimer: I do not believe in superstitions. They are added in for fun.
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