«Beloved» mother-in-law, an uncompromising old woman, both after the scandalous evening and on this Thursday morning as if nothing had happened, came to help her daughter around the house. When she saw that the borscht had been left on the stove uneaten by anyone, she burst into a storm of emotions, expressed her displeasure to her daughter by telephone, and, since dinner was ready for the evening, she began to sweep and scrub the floors in her daughters apartment. Elizabeth perceived cooking and cleaning her son-in-laws and daughters apartment as her immediate duty, not realizing that by doing so she was interfering with normal family life, not only for her daughter, but also for her young husband.
Everything was as usual. The scandal was just background noise that had no effect on what was going on. The mother-in-law would come to their apartment, cook dinner, help with the cleaning, give instructions about her granddaughters upbringing, and babysit her. And then she would take Alice to vocals or art school and then go back to sit in the kitchen until her favorite son-in-law arrived. It may even have seemed that there was a second wife in the house a kind of caring altruist. But no. Every night in the kitchen sat not a kind angel, but an old, nervous madam, which more and more irritated Robert. But he could not cope with her negative influence.
All week Robert came home from work, listened to the conversations of his mother-in-law and could not be alone with his wife. After leaving Elizabeth, there were only a few minutes to have a few phrases with his wife about the upcoming plans, take a shower and sink into a sound sleep. Robert even began to think that it could not be otherwise. The routine of family life had brought the man to automatic behavior. Sometimes his emotions ran high, and sometimes his wife even thought he was hugging her, but he was hugging her, rather unconsciously, in his sleep. She, too, was no longer expecting anything, and seemed to be guided by a sense of duty after all, they had a child and responsibilities. The relationship had become a kind of quintessential mutual obligation.
Yes, and the job is just as strange, but even more ridiculous routine, which was even more annoying than the old mother-in-law. The head teacher of the school was a «shitwork». Robert was constantly making the other teachers do the work that, in his own opinion, was not really good for a teacher. Every day filled a lot of papers: reports, curricula, documents for preparation for contests, examinations, attestations. Paperwork, work with scholarly tables, schedules, checking and rechecking teachers reports, calls, letters, administrative duties, trips to meetings, and all that stuff had long ceased to be activities that brought satisfaction. It became obvious that this kind of work was disappointing to the young principal, and was gradually killing off the fervor of his idealism. Where had his desire to change the school system, to put it on a normal human footing, gone?
What struck Robert the most was his colleagues indifference to his innovations. Recently they had been asked to convert most of the teachers documentation into electronic form. But to do that they had to literally force all teachers to work in the electronic system. Young teachers had no problem accepting the innovation. But older colleagues reacted skeptically. Oil in the fire poured and the principal, who not only didnt want to help Robert, but sometimes even interfered, played a double game, thus undermining the authority of the head teacher in the school community.
Recently an unfortunate incident happened at work, which not only caused a storm of indignation in Robert, but in general, as it seemed at the time, exposed the hopelessness of the system of education in the school.
Everything happened, as always, unexpectedly. Roberts daughter Alice, a creative person, began to take her studies more than responsibly in first grade. On the one hand, it was influenced by the fact that her father worked as head teacher at school, but on the other hand, the girl understood with all seriousness the importance of learning, which she liked it. One thing only hindered her from school: the girl had certain problems with the teacher about her appearance. Alice always dressed like a creative person. Even at the age of six, she learned how to make herself fashionable hairstyles, was interested in extravagant skirts, colorful T-shirts, etc. Not to say that the girls appearance was excessively flamboyant, but caused some attention not only from teachers, but also from classmates. But Alice liked to be special, and most importantly, her father supported her desire to be a person, to show her individuality, to develop a sense of love for her desires, hobbies, and values.
One day after a meeting at the principals office, when Robert was left to deal with other tasks with the supervisor, Alices teacher walked into the office and arrogantly said:
Oh, how good of you to be here! I would like to talk about your daughters appearance. This is unacceptable!
What is unacceptable? Robert clarified calmly.
The way she dresses. You as head teacher understand us perfectly well, she stressed the word «us» defiantly. «What did she mean? Us, the teachers, or me and the principal?» flashed through Roberts mind.
I see nothing wrong here, my daughters appearance does not interfere with her studies, on the contrary, it reflects her creative personality. She is the most responsible student in the class, and you have never made any remarks about her.
What do you mean it wasnt? I had comments about her appearance all the time. Back in kindergarten I brought her hair and clothes to your attention. Children in the class and their parents wondered if others could dress the same way. And if they follow her example? the teacher continued indignantly, glancing at the principal, who at that moment had definitely chosen the side of the indignant teacher, but was waiting for the right moment to make her final word.
They wont dress like my daughter, the parents dont have the will, and the children dont have the intelligence or imagination. Now they just have to accept my girl for who she is. Im not going to forbid her to dress the way she wants, answered Robert confidently, turning away from the principal toward the teacher standing by the door.
Mr. Robert, I dont like the way your daughter dresses either. This is an educational institution, not a brothel. We have white tops and black bottoms. Your daughter should understand that and dress according to the school charter, said the principal, leaning on the table with her elbows. Her decisive word was more than offensive and unfair and inexorably led to an increase in the degree of scandal. Robert had to defend his principles and the honor of his daughter.
In the brothel, too, they can dress in school uniforms. The only difference: it isnt children who work there. My daughter has been dressing like this since kindergarten, she has a taste for all things creative, she plays skits, sings beautifully, draws constantly and is engaged in modeling new dresses. I find it useful and Im not going to change anything! was the adamant response.
The disagreement with the principals opinion caused misunderstanding on the part of both the principal and the elementary school teacher. However, Robert had a strange desire to rebel against his superiors, as well as the educational system as a whole.
The scandal escalated. The trio argued for a long time about how to dress Alice. The principal immediately recalled not only all the miscalculations of the young head teacher, but also the unfulfilled work tasks. It seemed that the abyss opened up and out of it poured out all the bile, pain, and frustration. Robert was on edge, defending himself, protecting his daughter, responding to the directors aggression with no less stinging aggression. In the end, when he came out, the feeling of disappointment in his work and a desire to quickly get out of the school didnt leave him. But there was no way out, the second shift had begun, and he had three more classes in high school. The conflict had to be swallowed and he had to go to class.