Parent’s evenings ain’t wot they used to be.
As I noted last week we are back in the swim from the very off this term and I had my first parent’s evening on Wednesday but very different they are now. Previously (i.e. pre-Covid) we all sat in a freezing hall nervously eyeing the door for the arrival of the homicidal parent or… worse… the flatulent, monotonous git who talks for hours and delays everyone. Once landed with this particular horror the evening collapses into a frustrated mess of anger as the tuts from the queue grow louder and the hostility rises whilst Mr or Mrs Nosocialawareness drones on whilst occasionally lifting a buttock to create a miasma of horridness that just makes the whole thing worse. The up side of these face to face meetings was being able to tell parents in front of their child that he or she was a waste of space and that if they had any altruistic feelings they would prepare a shallow grave and spare the world their useless progeny.
However, now it’s all online and on balance it might be better. Five minute meetings regulated by the screen going blank, a glass of wine to the left off camera and a game of word bingo to hand – every cliche goes rewarded ‘He works so hard‘, ‘He’s far more focused this term’ etc, etc. The downside is the glimpses of tired parents chewing their meals whilst talking to you and acknowledging the fact that their son/daughter is too busy to attend. Progress eh?!
This week I have been mainly listening to loud stuff… sort of. First up the Godfather from a Later episode, then a bit of Chuck Prophet and finally some of those Melbourne, Aus. soul brothers the Teskeys