shower room phone call
by Kay
The showers at our fitness center are gross. The only good thing is they have two little rooms. A shower stall is in the back. A tiny curtained dressing area with a bench is in the front. I take my underwear to the bench to put on after my shower. Then I return to the locker room to finish getting dressed.
Today in the dressing area next to mine, as I was putting on my underwear and deodorant, a woman called her son’s physics teacher on her cell phone. Apparently Nathan is in AP Physics and she would like the teacher to provide him with extra tutoring. The physics teacher must have agreed, although he or she charges $100 per hour.
“That’s more than a doctor or lawyer!” the mother cried. “Last year, I paid a tutor $45 an hour!”
Finally the mother agreed to the $100 per hour price.
To Nate’s teacher, I’d like to say, “Way to stick to your price!” If Nate tests out of some college physics, they’ll have saved thousands in tuition.
To all teachers, I’d like to remind you of your worth. If $100 per hour is more than a doctor or lawyer (really? is it?), well then, so be it.
To all the people who use cell phones in public places, I’d like to express my appreciation. You make my day much more interesting than it deserves to be.
left on walnut 
I thought I was the only one who enjoys listening in… most of the time, anyway. Fourteen-year-olds can just shut up!
I wonder why one side of a conversation is more difficult to ignore than when we hear both sides?
As a former teacher, I can relate. And I totally agree with you about people who make phone calls from public spaces. Do they not have ANY sense of what is private? I once was on a city bus and heard the two men in front of me talking about my husband!!!
I hope they were saying nice things about him!
I went into a toilet cubicle and sat down and the woman in the next cubicle said hello. A little surprised, I said hello too. Then she said how are you, what have you been doing ? This was felt a little strange, but I answered her, I’m fine thanks, I’ve been shopping …
the next thing she said was “Look, I’ll have to go, some strange woman in the next cubicle keeps answering my questions. :-D
(I borrowed this from a facebook status, but it seemed a shame to waste the chance to pass it on) :-)
I now have a new favorite joke to mangle as I attempt to tell it!
Totally agree about the worth of teachers. Where does she think all those doctors and lawyers learned everything?
I’m thinking that physics teachers should be worth way more than lawyers!
I like that you find the positive in people blabbing in public on their cell phones–I should look at it this way, too. It did inspire a (rant) blogpost once.
Thanks for putting the teacher’s fee into perspective. We all need to be reminded of this.
If I’d been in a movie, it would have been different! As it was, it just livened the moment.
Your post also brought back, in vivid, tiled detail, the icky mildewed locker room back in college. I used to swim laps at the pool, on and off for a few years. The giant ventilation tubes overhead were also coated in what seemed like a centuries’ worth of dust. But I did like the pool….
Yeah, those showers were scary!
I am amazed the way people use their cell phones anywhere and seem oblivious to their listening audience. And thank you for your great comments for teachers!
I’m a former teacher. I think back then I tutored for $6 an hour.
Great post. And, as a teacher, I would like to thank you for the kudos!
Thank you for being an educator! There is no profession more important.
Very funny, and very true. Some people just have no idea what they are sharing.
Any diversion to take my thoughts away from that gross shower room!
The physics teacher is going to tutor his own student for $100/hr? I think that’s illegal! In our district you can’t charge to tutor your own students OR use your classroom space for private tutoring. But the $100 thing is amazing, and I do believe some people are worth that much. I wouldn’t pay or charge that much, but I understand people who do.
Nice catch, Miss Anderson! To be fair, I’m not really certain that she was phoning her son’s teacher at all. She may have been phoning another teacher, or, for that matter, a prof at the local university or instructor at the local community college. I’m not certain if tutoring one’s own student is illegal in our district. I suspect it is. There are ethical considerations, to be sure.
Thank you for reading my blog.