As a Matter of Principle

As a matter of principle and upbringing (remember, I grew up in the late fifties/early sixties), I do not wear blue jeans to work.  Unless it is a snowy day and deep in my heart I believe we should be closed.

This morning's snow seemed to take everyone -- the school administrators, the highway department, even the weather-guessers themselves -- by surprise.  Joe and Blackberry got out and pushed snow around while I made some oatmeal, but by the time they came back in, the first area they'd cleared was already thick and white again.

As an independent school, we have students from about twenty different school districts, and each district provides transportation for its students in its own buses.  Sometimes separate buses for separate divisions of the school.  On the rare occasion when the weather fools everyone and schools open when they really shouldn't, early dismissals occur and chaos ensues as we begin to get phone warnings from the transportation office, "Springfield is closing at 11:00," and then "Upper Dublin has arrived for Lower School," and so on.  Excitement among the students builds, and Upper School student drivers phone home, begging their parents to call and have them dismissed early "for safety reasons."  The ensued chaos then reigns, as we finally decide that we, too, will close early, and parents must be notified.

This morning had all of the makings of a dreadful day.  Still does, in fact.  But when I got out my blue jeans, I found $5.75 in the pocket!  I told my self to think back on that when the call comes that "Bryn Athyn's buses will be here at 11:15."

Then I put them on.  And they were a little bit too big.





Comments

Nancy said…
I just love your posts...I never quite know where you will end up.. Hoorah for extra change and no extra weight...
Anonymous said…
Bravo on the loose pants. I too remember the day when jeans were for camping, not work wear. I went to a women's college and we were not allowed to wear pants on campus, unless it snowed. Dates me I know.
I always enjoy your school posts as I am a retired teacher and it's all so familiar...the kids get wild when the first flake falls and ask every five minutes, "Do you think we'll go home early?"
BTW, here is MD, our schools did close today.
Sue
Char said…
Wow, I'd say that's great!
My daughter just sent me a text and asked if I thought her school would close early.
Although it's been snowing like crazy North Penn is notorious for not closing schools.
Needless to say, it made her sad.
altar ego said…
Yay! Glad to hear of the loosening, and glad to hear that the snow led to that discovery. Hot dog!
Pat said…
You just make me smile!
I have a dress. Yes, one dress. The rest of my clothes are blue jeans and cords. I used to have nicer clothes when I worked in the high tech industry but now? I work in a very dirty environment and outgrew all my nicer clothes. Blue jeans and tee shirts are my uniform and, sad to say, I am uncomfortable both physically and mentally in anything else. That said, my jeans are loose too. Congratulations!
How cool is it when your pants are too BIG !~! Not the case here these days unfortunately. I call this extra weight my “Teri Tummy” for my sister who died in 2008; I ate my way thru the grief and am now paying the price. Given alternatives tho like drinking or gambling, I did the right thing. Just need to walk a bit more and here in the SF Bay Area we have no snow to use as a reason not to go outside....

You inspire me, my girl.
Nicole said…
Hah! Now that is a reason to celebrate, no matter what the weather!
Gretchen said…
A bonus day all around :)
Salem Stitcher said…
Well, that makes for a nearly perfect day I think!
Susan said…
I'm another one who has to go through all sorts of justification to wear jeans to work. I'm not really comfortable facing parents in that attire, and I find that when we have "casual dress" day that my work also becomes a little casual. To put this in context, I went to a college where it was frowned upon to wear pants to lunch on Sunday, and yes, I know that I am dating myself. Don't even get me started on wearing pants to church.

Glad all the students got home safely yesterday. Thank goodness there aren't many of those unplanned early dismissal days since they are really hard on the faculty and staff!