Sadly

 This is a sad story. It is about one of the students at the school where I work. Perhaps the most significant thing about me spinning this tale is that I work at a school where sad stories abound. 

Linda is in fifth grade. She, like many of her peers, has begun to find her way in the burgeoning social structure created by fifth grade girls. So much so that she had her parents sign her up for the after school program where she could spend even more time hanging out with her new crew. 

Which is not the sad part. That part is coming next. 

This past Wednesday afternoon, Linda's father showed up ostensibly to drive her home. It was our Admin Assistant that first encountered him when he appeared in the office to ask where LInda was. Our Admin Assistant told Linda's father she would go and check. She could easily have paged LInda or called the classroom in which she was with her class. Instead she went in to tell our principal that dad reeked of alcohol and was slurring his speech. 

Word travels quickly in an elementary school. The after school program director was notified, who happened to be standing next to me so I went with her to the front doors to where dad had retreated having figured out that things might not be going as smoothly as he had hoped. 

Now there were five grownups standing on the steps watching dad's retreat. He hurled insults, threats and curses back at us. Meanwhile, the decision was made not to tell Linda that her father was out front causing a scene. Nobody was going to let her get in a motor vehicle with an obviously impaired adult. Even if he was her father. 

The saddest part was that, as I have mentioned, news travels fast. Little pitchers have big ears, as the saying goes. Some of those little pitchers started whispering about what they thought they were pretty sure they saw going on in front of the school. A couple grownups realized what was about to happen and moved to keep Linda from being the focal point of a wave of unpleasant attention. 

On this mission, we were not completely successful. The embarrassment vortex had been opened. The only thing that saved Linda from complete despair was that her mother was contacted and showed up quickly to rescue her. But this was only Wednesday. She still had to come back to school the next day. To answer all those questions that had to come up. 

The good news? On Thursday there were other competing dramas that spawned their own questions. But Linda will get to live with that afternoon for weeks to come.