Friday, February 14, 2014
Valentine's Day Off
Several years ago, I observed that there is only one group of people who enjoy having classes cancelled due to weather more than students: their teachers. When I was at Underwood, winter storms offered the tantalizing prospect of an unplanned vacation day. True, they could disrupt the unity of a week's lessons, but the chance to sleep in, catch up on grading or lesson planning, or maybe even do something *fun* on a weekday more than outweighed any potential pedagogical concerns.
Unfortunately, since leaving the thrill-packed world of public education for the even more exciting ivory tower, such opportunities have been few and far between. Much to the chagrin of their undergraduate and graduate students, universities do not, as a rule, close their doors due to inclement weather. When I was in college, classes were cancelled once during the course of four years, and that was due to a rather historic blizzard.
So when news came that a major nor'easter was set to arrive here in the city on Wednesday night, I assumed that the history seminar I'm teaching on Thursdays this semester would go on as scheduled. Even if I harbored hopes that the university administration would realize the transportation difficulties confronting members of the faculty, there was no way that I would be leaving the office without having everything in place for the next day. At the risk of indulging in unwarranted superstition, leaving my lessons unprepared would only serve to taunt the weather gods!
In this instance, I suppose I need not have worried. The university announced its closure before I went to bed on Wednesday night. With my office closed and class postponed, I decided to spend the day reading a book for fun, from cover to cover! Only after setting down my book did I check my work e-mail to discover that I had received an early Valentine's Day gift...another day off! Transit conditions were expected to be so bad by this morning that they preemptively closed the office for a second day!
The earliness of this decision was unprecedented this season. Indeed, this marks only the second closure in a season defined by record-breaking snows. Whether or not it was justified, I can't really say, since I don't regularly drive to work. Outside my windows, the sun was shining and people were beginning to dig out from the storm. Some of my colleagues likely went to the office, but for once I was not among them. Instead, I stayed here, caught up on some correspondence, and gathered my receipts in anticipation of filing my tax return.
It wasn't the most exciting Valentine's Day, but in its own quiet way, it has been a memorable one: the second day of a four-day weekend. Ironically, it would have been five days if I still were at Underwood. after all, aAcademics don't generally take Presidents' Day off.
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Unfortunately, since leaving the thrill-packed world of public education for the even more exciting ivory tower, such opportunities have been few and far between. Much to the chagrin of their undergraduate and graduate students, universities do not, as a rule, close their doors due to inclement weather. When I was in college, classes were cancelled once during the course of four years, and that was due to a rather historic blizzard.
So when news came that a major nor'easter was set to arrive here in the city on Wednesday night, I assumed that the history seminar I'm teaching on Thursdays this semester would go on as scheduled. Even if I harbored hopes that the university administration would realize the transportation difficulties confronting members of the faculty, there was no way that I would be leaving the office without having everything in place for the next day. At the risk of indulging in unwarranted superstition, leaving my lessons unprepared would only serve to taunt the weather gods!
In this instance, I suppose I need not have worried. The university announced its closure before I went to bed on Wednesday night. With my office closed and class postponed, I decided to spend the day reading a book for fun, from cover to cover! Only after setting down my book did I check my work e-mail to discover that I had received an early Valentine's Day gift...another day off! Transit conditions were expected to be so bad by this morning that they preemptively closed the office for a second day!
The earliness of this decision was unprecedented this season. Indeed, this marks only the second closure in a season defined by record-breaking snows. Whether or not it was justified, I can't really say, since I don't regularly drive to work. Outside my windows, the sun was shining and people were beginning to dig out from the storm. Some of my colleagues likely went to the office, but for once I was not among them. Instead, I stayed here, caught up on some correspondence, and gathered my receipts in anticipation of filing my tax return.
It wasn't the most exciting Valentine's Day, but in its own quiet way, it has been a memorable one: the second day of a four-day weekend. Ironically, it would have been five days if I still were at Underwood. after all, aAcademics don't generally take Presidents' Day off.
