“That Isn’t Mine” and Other Things That Make the World Suck

What you learn while supervising lunchtime at a middle school.

Photo by Katerina Holmes at Pexels.

I volunteer at my kids’ middle school once a week. Every Monday, I show up at their school and supervise the four lunch periods, one for each grade, from 10:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.

It’s the perfect job for me. It’s a two-and-a-half-hour shift, and I get to move around while I do it. I have no responsibilities and no authority.

If only it paid. But you can’t have everything.

I’m not here to tell you that the kids are or aren’t all right. I’m here to tell you that if you want to formulate some thoughts on why the world today is in a bit of a state, you need to go volunteer in a middle school, pronto.

Here’s what I’ve learned so far.

1. We are not adequately protecting simple systems that work.

When the kids crowd into the cafeteria for lunch, they form a line to pick up their trays and food.

I typically stand by the food line for each lunch because my pet peeve is when people cut in line (I’m American by birth but British by nature, and a good, orderly queue is about the only thing I believe in anymore). A lot of middle schoolers try to cut in line.