Lunch talk

'At work, I don't feel like a human.' So said a student in this evening's class as the question-asking exercise I'd planned to reinforce their understanding of the present simple tense just took off into a discussion of work conditions. The trigger question was 'Where do you eat your lunch?'  Responses: in the car on the way to the next cleaning job, at a picnic table outside, wherever I am..., and one who worked in a restaurant said she had no time for lunch whatsoever, said her boss was continually after her to stay busy serving customers. 'I don't sit down from the time I start to the time I go home. I feel like a animal.'

From here the discussion moved to the rights of workers in American, in Massachusetts, and their recourses about which I know little (not like verb tenses). Then people piped up on American vs Hispanic bosses, until I called us all order with the next phases of the lesson.

Hard working, all 13 of these twenty/thirty somethings from Central and South America as well as Algeria and Egypt. Besides appreciating the relevance of topic, I'm delighted to see them curious about each other's experiences and making inquiries, all in English.

Outside the window, the light was eerie, bright and misty at the same time. Clouds that looked like tornado-formers sagged from the sky. But the atmosphere in the class matched it in sheer vivid energy. You guys are the reason teaching is so much fun.