Friday afternoon basketball

I have the worst cell phone in the school, staff and students included. I mean it works and everything- when then dentist's office gave me an appointment for the end of February, I set the alarm in the phone to ring that day- so I wouldn't miss it.
This is a huge improvement from the old days when I would have written the appointment me my pocket calendar. Of course chances are I wouldn't have looked at the pocket calendar any where near the time of dentist appointment - or even more likely- by the time the appointment rolled around the pocket calendar would have been long lost.

I rarely loose my cell phone. If I can't find it at transition time (you know the moment you leave the house for work or leave work for the house or you leave anywhere to go someplace else) I look for it madly for 30 seconds and then I call it. Unlike my keys, or my wallet, the phone has the decency to ring and so I can followed it's muffled sound under the couch pillows or beneath the pile of forgotten coats in the cloak closet until I locate it, subdue panic and proceed to the next location of my life.

But this isn't a post about cell phones-I did want to say that with all the above mentioned positive qualities, compared to everyone around me, my phone sucks I can't check my email, find a good restaurant in the neighborhood or play video games during staff meetings ((well actually I use my netbook for the playing video games during staff meeting part- but hey I'm not finished complaining) And everyone else from the principal on down can do those things on their phone.

But this is a blog post about Friday afternoons and basketball and me having the only charged up, receiving service, working cell phone in the hosting team's gym last night.

I had planned to leave school exactly at dismissal yesterday and be home early enough to cook dinner and still have plenty of laying-on-the-couch-time, but Thomas wanted help with a science poster on sickle cell anemia and I didn't have the heart to split. Then Thomas wanted a ride to the basketball game and I had the car. And then I wanted to watch the game, which we lost in the last quarter.

With 43 seconds left Kenya fell. Kenya is the almost 7 foot star of our team. And I have been working with Kenya a long time. Somewhere in the second half the teacher next to me asked me if Kenya was passing all his classes and would remain academically eligble to play next semester

"It's possible," I answered, "But I forsee alot of together time for the two of us next week," (starting with the disease of the week poster I stayed late to help Thomas with).

Kenya does not like losing. He does not like taunting. And even though he looks and attempts to act like a rising NBA star- by the end of the game the combination of being loudly heckled by the home teams fan and the lack of scoring was too much for him. When he fell on his knee he writhed in pain and gave a full out performance.

Conversation heard behind me,
"Just drag him off the court and finish the game."
"Shut up -ma"

So somehow after the game ended and the home team cleared the gym, I was on my cell phone calling Kenya's grandmother, who is in no condition to sit around the emergency room, calling the principal to figure out if we could take him there, calling back the grandmother to get phone consent to treat, calling the emt's supervisor to get permission to transport Kenya in the coach's car, since Kenya made in abundantly clear that he wasn't going in a fucking ambulance.

Bottom line- Kenya is okay. He'll back in school on Monday to finish his science poster. Perhaps will switch the topic from Rabies to knee injuries.