EXCUSES, EXCUSES!
How to Skip School in the Digital Age
If AI wrote our notes, would anyone know the difference?
One of my favorite photos from my high school years is of my friend, Sue, placing a call from one of the pay phones near the main office.
Classic move from back in the day, especially our senior year: Hitch a ride to school with family or friends, cross the street, take the steps two at a time, burst through the front doors, and place a call from the bank of old-school telecommunications devices after plunking a dime in the top slot.
Just need to note one thing: That wasn’t a typo in the above paragraph. It really cost a measly dime to place a local call from a pay phone when I was in high school. We’re talking ’70s coinage. And we took full advantage.
Who did we call so early in a school day? The main office, of course. The one around the corner from the pay phones. My convos usually went like this:
“Hello, this is Brooke’s mom — yes, I’d like to report her as absent. She woke up with a sore throat and won’t be at school today.”
Or cramps, or a headache, or my Nana was coming to town. Then I’d shoulder my backpack, walk through the school and out the back near the gym, where I’d rendezvous with friends in…
