Passersby

Are there any other words in the English language to which you add an "s" to make them plural, but you do not add it to the end of the word? There must be, but I can't think of any. Even if there were, "passersby" would be my favorite. It reminds me of Carl Sandburg and his poem about the sidewalks of Chicago. (Yes, there is another famous Chicago Sandburg/berg other than Ryno). The word leads me to paint this picture in my head that I think is actually a memory of something I've seen in the past. The vision is of a chalkboard, and someone is standing in front of the chalkboard while different people come up with various brightly colored chalks and shade in the area surrounding him. After many people have added their tone to the picture, the person steps away from the chalkboard leaving a silhouette behind. The colors that surround the silhouette? Passersby.

I've had plenty of time to think thoughts like this over the past few days because I have been sick. I've also had ample time to write, but my mind fixates on drinking tea or blowing my nose. It wouldn't allow me the patience to concentrate on something like this. The cold has died down enough to where I can count on a solid thirty minutes without coughing like I have emphysema. I wish I had great stories to tell, but most of my time has been spent drinking orange juice, drinking tea, and getting angry at my immune system for this outrageous mutiny.

Having said that, here are some highlights from the past week. On Wednesday, I gave my best lesson of the summer. There was nothing fancy about it. There was a lot of math, and I put a lot of responsibility into the hands of the students. I think they got a lot out of it. There was some improvisation involved, so I felt loose and confident. I was more at home with myself. I was proud because by the end I had used up three full white boards, filling them with definitions and examples and student work. Yet I was also milling about the room trying to keep students interested and on task. I wasn't glued to the board, but I still managed to use it often. It was cool. It was by no means a perfect lesson, and I wasn't totally aware of everything that was going on around me, but it was very encouraging. I wish I could have carried that momentum into Thursday, but my cold struck back and I had to miss my last day of summer school.

I was bummed. The cold set in on Tuesday, and I felt horrible until the evening. Things started to look up, and all I had was a light cough and a light runny nose when I taught my lesson on Wednesday. I deteriorated over the course of Wednesday and was at my absolute worst on Thursday. My only tangible accomplishment on Thursday was re-writing the words to "We are the World" for my class at City College. Let me explain why this was an accomplishment.

Friday was our last day of training. It consisted of a brief reception in which every class had to make a five minute skit or presentation. I wanted to do an improv game like "party quirks" because it's easy and requires no memorization. They do it all the time on "Whose Line is it Anyway?"--it's the one where someone is hosting a party and has to guess all the different quirks of the guests. It's easily adaptable to a classroom in which students have all sorts of weird quirks, like one who births an alien out of his stomach (my creation) or one who feels the need to sing like Michael Jackson every time he answers a question (true summer school story from a classmate).

Alas, we decided on "We are the World." So I re-wrote the lyrics, which wasn't difficult because they made absolutely no sense in the first place. On Friday I took the lead and channeled my inner Lionel Richie to start them off, and we gave an unforgettable rendition to the other fellows at the school. It was fun. I think it's funny how I evolved from the quiet nice guy at the beginning of the summer to the crazy guy who pretends to be Lionel Richie at the end of the summer. I'm not sure how to feel about this.

Anyways, the performance was a wonderful testament to our group's cohesion and willingness to trust one another. And our complete inability to carry a tune. We got paid at the end of the reception, said our farewells, and went our separate ways. After becoming virtually inseparable over the course of the summer, I wonder how much we will stick together now that we won't all be in the same place at once. It was palpable how everything came to an end after collecting our checks. People were off to move into new apartments, go on vacations, or travel to be with their families. It was all happening right away. One phase had ended, and the next had begun.

Always the passive tag-along, I recognize that it is now on me to reach out to people and continue building friendships where they had begun. I hope that we can amount to more than being vague passersby in each other's lives. After all, we've shared "We are the World." There's no going back now.