Overheard at Work, vol. XXV

A short week means not as many quotes. So THANKFUL for a few days' break!

"Tinsel would be a good safety word."--a co-worker's random inappropriateness at a staff check-in.

"I'm ELMO! Minus the L. I'm EMO!"--8-year-old, showing his cleverness AND spelling skills.

"He helped me once and I got the whole paper wrong."--a 12-year-old describing the risks of having a teenager help her.

"Is there chorus today?"--an 8-year-old, inquiring about drama class. They never seem to remember what it is actually called.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Overheard at Work, vol. XXIV

I swear there was something in the air this week. Maybe it's the days leading up to a holiday break or the holidays in general or the weather changing or the fact that yesterday two people were out and, today, three people were.

BUT THIS WEEK WAS BANANAS!!

As I have said only a handful of times since being hired, these were some "double shot of vodka on ice at the end of the day" days.

8-year-old brat: Is that your phone?
Me: Yep.
8-year-old brat(regarding it): You know. I have a better phone than you. And it's $400.

10-year-old girl, attempting to help her friend with her homework: Usually a sad story means someone dies at the end.

I was talking to a senior in HS about how I was about to swear because I was so frustrated, and that I was in fact, a potty mouth. When he couldn't fathom it, I reminded him I was from New York, and he said: "Mother Annie turns into New York Pirate."

Me to a teen getting some data entry done at a desk near mine: You can turn on the iTunes radio, since you'll be here for a while.
Him: I could just sing slave songs instead.

Other highlights of the week included:
Spontaneously performing a slow-motion hug with an 8-year-old upon her arrival;
My new mentee calling me a "freak." But, like. In a good way.

Overheard at Work, vol. XXIII

This is an abbreviated post because I spent Wednesday at home sick in bed and Thursday and Friday at a community arts educators conference which finishes up tomorrow afternoon...

"Can you tell Nicholas to stop chasing us? He's trying to hump us!"--an unexpected plea from an 8-year-old boy.

Me to our intern: Do you listen to music while you work?
Him: Not usually.
Me: Nothing lyric-heavy...
Him: Like jazz?
Me: Yeah, or Enya.
Him: Oh, that's in the movie Gladiator, right?
Me: [laughing] I was about to tell you I did my math teacher to that music.
[Disclaimer: I MEANT MATH HOMEWORK!]

"I bet you looked like Chips and Poncho!"--my colleague, imagining our art teacher blowing his hair out. I died. She meant Ponch.

"Grinding is nothing new."--a guest hip-hop artist, after his amazing keynote speech about teenagers, answering a question from the audience of community educators, "What is grinding all about anyway?"

Overheard at Work, vol. XXII

During scenework on bullying, in which a girl is teased for the food she's eating, a 7th grader asked, "What if she's eating, like, a nose?"

"The chicks dig it."--a HS senior, about his teeny tiny phone.

Me: So, what's new?
Sophomore boy: I'm pregnant.
Me: Wow! That really would be news! Are you a lady?
Sophomore boy: Sometimes.

12-year-old Chinese girl, working on her Civics HW, for which she had to write 10 facts she knew about USA: In New York, they have that thing. [puts her hand up]
Me: I have no idea.
Girl: The woman. In the ocean.
Me: Oh! The Statue of Liberty!

Co-worker A: [clenching his teeth before the kids arrived] Grant me the serenity!

Co-worker B: When I was little, I used to think Bill Clinton was Jesus. He would come on the TV and my mom would get really excited, and I was like, "Is that Jesus?"

Girl A: I need to go ask him something.
Me: [letting her in to the closed Ed Center and keeping her friends out]
Girl B: Annie!
Me: She had a question!
Girl B: But I'm with her all the time!