All he needed to do was print his answers. But when he plugged his Alpha Smart into the printer and keyed the sequence to print, the device failed. We waited—in vain—for help from Astor’s Tech support, a CUNY intern in over his head. I scribed his answers and then walked him to class.

All I needed to do was pick up another students’ paper. Then I could eat lunch. But he bolted from his counselor’s office, saying he would give his test in. His test paper had a teary message, and no answer sheet came with it. When I finally found him, his answer sheets had a rant written all over it, continuing on three subsequent pages—the back of other students’ permission slips.

All I had time to eat before starting 7th period—the first of three in a row—was a few bites from an apple.

growling stomach
students protest
assigned seats

Photo by an_vision

first published in Image Curve, September 24, 2020