Daniel's Den

Chapter 08

Don’t Embarrass Yourself

I was tearing apart what used to be my closet, but had transformed into an empty hole.

“Robert, I can’t believe we brought absolutely no winter clothes.”

“Lee Ann, why would you do that? It’s eighty degrees year-round here.”

“Mr. Franks said that I needed to dress for extreme cold. They called my classroom a morgue.”

“There’s no way they are going to make you teach under those conditions.”

“If it’s a joke, three separate people were in on it, and one wasn’t even in the room.”

“It had to be a joke. They can’t make you teach students in that environment.”

“I don’t know.”

“You’re the new teacher. They probably do it to everyone. Please, don’t try to walk in there wearing a parka.”

“I don’t have anything heavier than a light sweater. The PX isn’t going to stock coats.”

“No one is. That’s what I’m saying. It’s a joke.”

“I think that’s pretty mean. They didn’t seem to care enough about people to be mean to them.”

“That made no sense. It’s hazing. Colleges do it. The military does it.”

“They didn’t haze teachers in Germany.”

“They served strawberry daiquiris in the teachers’ work room on Fridays in Germany.”

“You scored on that point.”

“Well, things are different here in Panama. Morgues are around 40 degrees. Don’t show up there looking stupid.”

“Ok. It’ll be impossible to find a coat here anyway.”