SPORTS DAY

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it was a sports day. as i typed those words above i could almost hear the kids running amok, the reigning chaos, children falling down like flies and then running up to their teachers in tears, sparking a panic amongst the management aka school principal and heads of department.  gosh. those were good times.  unfortunately, my words are a gross exaggeration of how lame the reality was. however, it is not because i am wishing and praying for it to be so. no far from it. i am happy that none of the above actually happened. except of course for a few hiccups.  i was a track judge. it means that i can do anything that i want and do it at any point of anytime. it was interesting though that not once did i sneak off to have a quick ciggie. i was there at the track. i was working full time and witnessing almost every event there was.  at this point of time i would like to say that i am positive that all of you are putting your hands together with glee, anticipating every exciting moment of the typed word.     but seriously, there were a few exciting moments. momento numero uno:as i was standing at the finishing line, Kevin Thomas appeared after disappearing for 2 hours. and rightly so. he was supposed to have disappeared because he was in charge of the lower primary sports event that was held in the gym. ‘hey kev, kumustas?’ i said while imagining myself draped in a mask and a black cape and having a horse waiting for me somehwere. in truth, i had a bad hair day and that fact was fortunately disguised by a cap, with a pair of skinny legs and skinny arms to show off.  he looked at me with a smile and then expressed an exasperated look. ‘fucking hell amigo,’ he blurted.  ‘yeh?’ i queried. ‘that butch wants to do everything. wants to be seen doing everything. not because she is worried that we might fuck up… its because she wants her bosses to see that she is important! you know everytime she does something she looks to the HOD for approval. she looks to him to see if her deed is being witnessed. fucking hell amigo!’ he barked. ’so that is why you are out here,’ i comforted him. ‘fucking hell man… i said to her. you asked me to MC and i am doing what you have asked me to do. if you want me to do it, LET me do it. if YOU want to do it… then YOU do it!’ Kevin was incensed. it wasnt the first time that he was seen this pissed off. there were a couple of times when he would blow his steam at me. and those times happened while we were at a bar. oh boy he can be one unhappy teacher. ‘Kev, its a beautiful day out here. the sun is shining and the wind is blowing. what more can u ask for,’ i advised him. ‘thats right man… muchos gracias mi amigo,’ he smiled. momento numero doschit was the teachers’ relay race.  i asked myself why am i here?  i paused to think. and then i reconciled my doubts and thoughts by enjoying the little things that i had. the other primary school teachers who have volunteered for the race were excited too. i thought to myself, well at least all of us were game for it. so there we were.  in my team was Shane the gay guy, Yen Mei, the cute little P5 teacher, Larry bible reading discipline master, Elaine the chocolate girl and yours truly.  ’so what do we do now? Avloomat whats the plan,’ Elaine asked.  ’simple, since we have Shane. we should capitalise that. he should be our first runner since he has the longest legs. and then its boy girl boy girl and i will anchor,’ like i a pro i said those words.  frankly it was mere common sense. i had to content with two ahtletic runners in Kevin and Vincent the Frenchman. but i knew if i got the baton first my team would win. as we waited for the race to start we exchanged banters, smiling at our dear selves wondering what have we got ourselves into. the only reason we were reluctant to do such a thing in the first place was that we do not want to look stupid in front of our kids. we all know what would happen if we falter. in the commotion i didnt realise the race had already started. fortunately it was still early in the race. i could not see who was leading due to obvious reasons. i was merely looking at how our team was doing. shane passes to Elaine, she runs like the wind. Elaine passes to Larry and twinkle toes to Rebekah. Rebekah stepped off like lightning and reaches Yen Mei before we know it. and then, Yen Mei was already running towards me. like a pro i held my hand out while starting my run.  i saw the baton and held my hand toward it. the moment i grabbed it i didnt look back and sped off as fast as i could.  one leg after the other, thighs reaching as high as possible and steps as wide as possible. because i wasnt wearing track shoes, i was afraid i might slip and fall. as i ran, i muttered these words, ‘please dont fall, please dont fall, please dont fall.’ 10 metres to the finishing line and the other competitors were nibbling at my dust.  i was clear.  it was then i could hear Vangelis’ Chariots of Fire playing in the background. seriously, they did play it in the background. i am not making this up. upon reaching the finishing tape, i raised my arms like the Getorade ad to the cheer of a thousand speactators.   i smiled and turned around to see how close i was to losing. it wasnt close. someone has dropped the baton i wasnt sure who…  the rest of my team arrived at the finishing line and we exchanged high fives… great race, great day, i wish school was like this everyday.  Song of the Day: Chariots of Fire by VangelisFinger Acrobatics Perfomed by Avloomat @ 1840hrs   

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