Little story.
My 16 yr son is at high school in the USA. He is supposed to reregister for the next school year and my husband told me we had an email from a Mr. NewName at school and our son cannot register for the new school year (private Catholic school). I groan and of course think “what has he done now?” as he had just been taken off academic probation. His grades were high but he was missing too much actual class (mostly due to illness).
So I go into the school to see if I can find Mr NewName as my messages were going to voicemail. Everywhere is deserted and I hear a roar from the gym and remember it’s a special assembly at the end of a fun week for the entire school. So I go over there and see some people milling around with “Staff/faculty” t-shirts on. I approach one of the staff, a woman I don’t know and ask her if she knows who Mr NewName is and what he does? She apologizes and says she works in the cafeteria and doesn’t know all the faculty. So we stand watching the proceedings from the back of the gym and she tells me her dd goes to the school and I tell her my son is a Junior.
She asks me his name
Me: “SonsName”
She steps back and gasps “NOT, SONSNAME???!!!”
And then “Do you live in Distant Suburb?”
I say “yes” dreading what is coming next.
Her: “He is my FAVORITE kid in the whole school and I talk to him everyday!”
She tells me lots of info all about him that he has shared with her. She then proceeds to tell me that she also loves all his friends and what a nice group they are.
Later I find Mr NewName and it wasn’t a serious matter.
So I went from arriving on campus with a sense of dread and leaving in a cheerful mood.
When I saw my son he was delighted I had met Ms. Cafeteria Lady and said she is very funny and they like to have a laugh each day.
I tell this little tale just so mothers of teen boys can have hope!