It's been 3 years since I posted last time, and that's when I said to myself that I would continue posting stories of fun customers, or in my case, students.
A little background first. I'm an English teacher in Japan, and have been doing it for 10 years now, though that's coming to an end next year. I am considered one of the dependable, trustworthy veterans, and apparently every school's manager knows who I am. I was recently offered a promotion to management, but I turned it down because it really didn't pay much more than I earn now, and I'd be working 50+ hours per week. No thanks. I'd rather deal with the little things at my schools. Such as this...
Last year, there was a big snowstorm in the area I live in. That's quite rare, because we get about 1 or 2 cm of snow each winter. But on this particular day, we had 30 cm. There are no snow plows. There hasn't been a snowfall like this in decades. It effectively shut down the streets, buses, and trains. We had no way of getting to work. This was a Saturday, and they tend to be quite busy.
My boss emailed all of us and said that we were to wait at home until we were given the go ahead to go to work. All trains were stopped, so there was no way anyone could get to their schools. We were later notified to go to work (at about 10:30 am), because schools would open at 12:30 pm. So, I went out to the bus stop where a man in a sports car told us the buses were canceled. He was stuck, as were many other cars. So, I had to walk the 2.4 km to the train station. I thought that wouldn't be a big problem, but it turned out most of the streets were like 20 cm deep rivers. The snow in this area is always very wet. I was only 3 minutes from my home, and my feet were already soaked.
Normally, the walk would take 25 minutes, but it took me an hour. I finally got to the station, took the train, and got to work at 12 pm. My manager wasn't there, but another manager (actually, the manager's boss) had arrived and opened the school for us. The other teachers arrived shortly.
My first student was absent. Her class was for 11:40 am and 12:30 pm. The 11:40 class was canceled because schools were closed. However, I later learned from our manager, who arrived at 3 pm because she couldn't even get out of her city (50 cm of snow stopped the trains there much longer), that this particular student's mother had called.
The student was an 18 year old high school student. She walked to the school, and she found it closed. She left and went home. Her mother called the school and demanded to know why we didn't call her to let her know we weren't open. She was incredibly angry. Here are the reasons why we didn't call her:
1. There was no one at the school.
2. Everyone was trying to get to the school, successfully and unsuccessfully.
3. Teachers don't have access to personal information, such as phone numbers.
4. Managers have access, but not at home.
5. It's illegal to have confidential customer information at staff's home.
So, there was absolutely no way we could call. And why didn't someone from head office call? Well, they have limited resources and personnel, and I bet most didn't make it into work. They could not call 200-300 people.
Makes me wonder if she was even thinking about what we were going through trying to get to work. My feet were soaking wet!
A little background first. I'm an English teacher in Japan, and have been doing it for 10 years now, though that's coming to an end next year. I am considered one of the dependable, trustworthy veterans, and apparently every school's manager knows who I am. I was recently offered a promotion to management, but I turned it down because it really didn't pay much more than I earn now, and I'd be working 50+ hours per week. No thanks. I'd rather deal with the little things at my schools. Such as this...
Last year, there was a big snowstorm in the area I live in. That's quite rare, because we get about 1 or 2 cm of snow each winter. But on this particular day, we had 30 cm. There are no snow plows. There hasn't been a snowfall like this in decades. It effectively shut down the streets, buses, and trains. We had no way of getting to work. This was a Saturday, and they tend to be quite busy.
My boss emailed all of us and said that we were to wait at home until we were given the go ahead to go to work. All trains were stopped, so there was no way anyone could get to their schools. We were later notified to go to work (at about 10:30 am), because schools would open at 12:30 pm. So, I went out to the bus stop where a man in a sports car told us the buses were canceled. He was stuck, as were many other cars. So, I had to walk the 2.4 km to the train station. I thought that wouldn't be a big problem, but it turned out most of the streets were like 20 cm deep rivers. The snow in this area is always very wet. I was only 3 minutes from my home, and my feet were already soaked.
Normally, the walk would take 25 minutes, but it took me an hour. I finally got to the station, took the train, and got to work at 12 pm. My manager wasn't there, but another manager (actually, the manager's boss) had arrived and opened the school for us. The other teachers arrived shortly.
My first student was absent. Her class was for 11:40 am and 12:30 pm. The 11:40 class was canceled because schools were closed. However, I later learned from our manager, who arrived at 3 pm because she couldn't even get out of her city (50 cm of snow stopped the trains there much longer), that this particular student's mother had called.
The student was an 18 year old high school student. She walked to the school, and she found it closed. She left and went home. Her mother called the school and demanded to know why we didn't call her to let her know we weren't open. She was incredibly angry. Here are the reasons why we didn't call her:
1. There was no one at the school.
2. Everyone was trying to get to the school, successfully and unsuccessfully.
3. Teachers don't have access to personal information, such as phone numbers.
4. Managers have access, but not at home.
5. It's illegal to have confidential customer information at staff's home.
So, there was absolutely no way we could call. And why didn't someone from head office call? Well, they have limited resources and personnel, and I bet most didn't make it into work. They could not call 200-300 people.
Makes me wonder if she was even thinking about what we were going through trying to get to work. My feet were soaking wet!
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