Hurricane Irma is approaching Florida. She is a massive storm that is expected to hit our state soon, and to be safe, Governor Scott directed that all public schools close Friday and Monday. A short time later it was confirmed that, although our area doesn’t look like we are in the direct path now, our district is adhering to the orders and we will be closed too. I am a sure most teachers and students were giddy as they went to bed last night. I am a teacher, and I did a happy dance.
However, this morning, my sleep was disturbed around 5:00 AM by a ROBO call from the district to make sure that all parents got word that school was canceled.
I had two options:
1. Get aggravated, work myself up into a tizzy, and not be able to go back to sleep
2. Take it as a sweet reminder that I have a 4 day weekend, cuddle up with my pillow again, and go back to sleep- eventually-because at 46, it takes a little longer
Once I got up and got some coffee in me, I had two more options:
1. Jump on Facebook and complain publically that a 5 am call was ridiculous
2. Drink my coffee and watch Shaun the Sheep with my 3-year-old
I chose option two both times.
First, it was just a phone call. Seriously.
Next, it doesn’t always have to be about us. Yes, the call may have been annoying, but if it helped one student and her parents not get out this morning and go to the bus stop, then wasn’t it worth it? Not everyone in our community has smart phones and Facebook. Some parents work nights and might have missed that evening call on their landline. What if everyone in our community started thinking about everyone else involved in a situation rather than making it just about themselves and their comfort and well-being? What if we all stopped looking at the world as only revolving around ourselves? What a world it would be!
Now I fully understand that at a certain age, sleep is sacred, and I know how hard it is to go back to sleep when it is disrupted. However, what good does it do to post your aggravation on Facebook? Did it act as a sedative? Did you gain anything from it other than rallying other Negative Nellies in agreement? Do an inventory of your Facebook page. Count up the posts that are complaints, criticisms, or anything else that can be viewed negatively in any way. Then count up your uplifting posts. Are you spreading good or adding to what is already wrong with our world?
Here is a challenge: Try for one month to not post anything that is negative in any way about anybody: your family, teachers, bosses, the President, liberals, conservatives, Christians, Muslims, Bama Fans, the person driving too slowly in the fast lane. See how quiet you become. In fact, replace those negative remarks with something positive. Then see how different you become.
So now, I am off to enjoy my four day weekend. But to all of you out there who hate being woken up at 5:00 am by unneeded ROBO calls regarding school closures, you may want to turn your phones on silent before you go to bed Sunday night.
