Jammed Copiers

For the first time in my teaching career, I had today off. In America, today is a national holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Students have the day off, but we teachers typically report for duty in the form of a day-long meeting. The highlight of such a day is that we get a little longer for lunch and get to enjoy a meal out with colleagues. In 13 years I’ve attended only one in-service training that was worthwhile and memorable and that was 11 years ago. Needless to say, I was ecstatic to have the day off.

I began my day by waking up a little later than normal and drinking a little more coffee than normal. I spent some time with my seven-year-old nephew, helping him complete homework and attempting to play a video game with him. Whatever we were playing involved our characters getting packages from vending machines and delivering them via helicopters, golf carts, trucks, and cars. While Manny picked up packages and delivered them with ease, I on the other hand, did not fair as well. My character stood in front of vending machines for several minutes as I tried to remember how to grip the handle and retrieve the package. Once I had the package out of the machine, I couldn’t figure out how to pick it up. I fell into the lake and drowned several times, knocked myself out when I tried jumping over a rock wall but ran into it, lost a package in the lake, and I dumped us both out of the helicopter- after Manny had managed to get me in the helicopter and showed me how to grip the controls. I finally left in frustration and washed dishes. You can pretty much guarantee that if I choose washing dishes over an activity, that activity must be the absolute worst because dish washing is my least favorite chore.

This weekend I have really tried to have my entire week ahead planned out. I know what I’ll be wearing each day, my meals are written out and planned, and all laundry and house cleaning is caught up so I don’t have those chores hanging over my head. I decided that I would go to school today, on my day off, and make copies of the study guide I’m giving students tomorrow. The study guide is 6 pages, front and back, and I knew it would take awhile to make 100 copies. I decided that I would prefer to go to school for a half hour today rather than have to go extra early tomorrow and risk someone else needing the copier.

I keyed into the building and was surprised to see Beth, the green pants sleuth- see previous post, sitting at her desk. I didn’t realize that anyone would be working, but saw that the office staff were acting as if it were a normal school day. I approached the copier, placed the study guide in the tray, entered my code, and instructed the copier that I wanted the copies front and back, hole punched, and stapled into packets. I pressed, ‘copy’ and waited for the antiquated machine to warm up.

After about five packets, the copier jammed. I unlatched about twelve different doors and drawers and finally found the crumpled culprit. Another three packets printed and I again, unlatched and removed the paper. The next time ten packets printed. As I unlatched and pulled out drawers and threw paper away, I wondered what it was like to work at a wealthy school where attempting to make copies didn’t require prayer and the laying on of hands. All the while, Beth had been watching and commenting on the trials and tribulations of the copier, offering to help if needed.

Finally, the copier realized that I wasn’t going to give up and complied. While I stood just outside her office waiting for my packets, Beth commented that she had absolutely nothing to do and the time had been creeping by all day long. We began to chat and laugh and that turned into a full-blown conversation about life and faith and Jesus and how good God is and finally in an agreement to hold each other accountable in daily Scripture reading.

While I still wish the copier would have just worked from the get go, I see that having it jam 4011 times, opened up a opportunity for Beth and me to engage in a conversation that wouldn’t have been possible during the school day. I never have the luxury to stand around and talk to co-workers for an uninterrupted hour and a half. I ended up spending nearly two hours at school on my day off and left with a stack of hole-punched, stapled packets and an encouraged heart that was reminded of the goodness of God that sometimes comes in the form of a broke down Xerox machine.