A Delicate Situation--

A Delicate Situation--

So many experiences in life.   Some I try to forget, some make me laugh, others make me cringe.  This one does all three at once.

It was spring.  Time for the school band to travel to another town about an hour away to be judged.  I did not teach band.  I did accompany many band students at contests so I knew all the students.  Many were quite talented.

The adjudication was very early on a Saturday morning.   The band teacher asked me to accompany the group.  Ride the bus on a Saturday.  Was he out of his mind?  He explained that he needed a woman in case the girls in the band had any challenges.  Very reluctantly I agreed.

It was quite cool that early Saturday morning.  You will understand later why I am telling you what I wore that day.  I wore a dress, slip, panty hose.  I also wore a long rain coat with a belt.  Everyone was dressed in their best as that was part of the experience.

We boarded the bus and began the hour long trip.  Kids were sleepy.  So was I.  When we arrived, everyone unloaded and headed into the school.  I would be last off.  Just before I stood to leave, someone tapped my shoulder.  There was a problem.

Now this is a bit delicate.  A young woman wearing white pants had that accident all women fear.  After sending the friend into the school,  a plan began to materialize in my mind.  She was a very important part of the band.  She had to perform.  I had no car to make a run to a store.  Besides, there were only minutes before the doors would close behind the band, and the performance would begin.

Quickly I handed her my raincoat.  I  instructed her to grab her instrument, and we raced into the school looking for a bathroom.  Once inside, I told her to undress.  To hand her clothes to me under the stall.  I undressed in my stall.  Off came my dress, my slip, my panty hose.  I handed them under to her.  How interesting that they all fit her.  Once dressed, off she ran to join the band.

So there I was in a bathroom stall before 8 AM with underwear, a raincoat and a pair of shoes.  I buttoned all the buttons on that coat, tied the belt and slipped into my shoes.  They were closing the doors to the gym just as I arrived.  I was able to scoot in and listen to the band.  They played beautifully.

After everyone was loaded on the bus, we began the hour trip home.  As spring days will, it became warm.  The band teacher and I talked about how well the kids performed.  He was so pleased.  And then he mentioned that the bus was getting hot.  Would I like to remove my coat?  He would be glad to drap it across the bar in front of the seat.

Well, no, I wouldn't.  He had no idea what had happened.  He had no idea that sitting beside him was a teacher dressed only in underwear, a raincoat and a pair of shoes.  That isn't something one shares.  All the way back to the school, I prayed that no accident occured.  I could see newspaper headlines about a teacher dressed only in....

Thinking back on my college days and the education courses I took, I do not remember a single one that instructed me how to handle this type of crisis.  Some things simply come to you when the need arrives.

Only one of the many unusual experiences of my teaching career.