Top 10 List

10 Things I Have Not Missed

Since My Last Day of School

My last day of a 36-year career in education was June 1. Since then I have stayed busy with a variety of projects and the usual summer vacation activity of doing a lot of reading, as well as keeping up with old friends on Facebook and taking up some new hobbies. Following is a list of what I have not missed in the first month of my retirement.

10. Teenagers who think they know everything.

9. Monitoring students’ cell phone use and confiscating phones.

8. Two words—state testing.

7. Grading papers every weekend.

6. My alarm clock going off at 4:30 a.m. Monday through Friday.

5. Have to eat lunch in the same 30-minute period five days a week.

4. Not being able to buy a Diet Coke from a vending machine until 2 p.m. (after the end of the last lunch period).

3. Timing restroom breaks for the six-minute passing period between classes.

2. Seeing what new traffic configurations and detours are in place every morning and afternoon on almost every major highway in the Metroplex.

1. Early morning traffic on I-35W north of downtown Fort Worth where most drivers of the tractor-trailer rigs that fill the northbound lanes in rush hour apparently think 35 is the speed limit.