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From: Edward Benning him@hisemail.com |
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Hi Ms. Bradshaw, On Tuesday, Eliot made a poor choice of putting a paper clip in one of the electrical outlets during his Period 4 Biology class. The result was the paper clip started to burn/smoke and the row of outlets stopped working. As I explained to Eliot this morning, it became a potential safety issue for him and for others. With his poor choice, Eliot was assigned a Saturday Detention. He mentioned that he will be able to serve the Saturday Detention time next Saturday, 3/18, in lieu of this Saturday due to SAT testing, if I remember correctly. Additionally, I notified Eliot that if there were any damages with the outlets as a result of the incident, he would need to pay for the damage. Thankfully, it appears there will not be a need for him to pay for damage though. After checking with the head of our maintenance regarding repair updates, he believes that they will just need to reset the circuit. If this would change then I will let you know. However, I don’t anticipate any repair or replacement costs. I tried calling your cell phone to share this information but I was unable to leave a message. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to call or email me. — |
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From: Tammy Bradshaw me@yahoo.com |
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Dear Mr. Benning, I’m sorry you were not able to leave a message. My inbox must be full. I’ve not paid my bills in 2 years so I let all my unknown calls go to voice mail. It’s been a tough month and my incoming call volume has been extra high. I’ve left myself a note to empty it out so that the next bill collector can leave an important message. I once made the unfortunate mistake of answering a call from a debt collector who was located in Bangladesh. It took me 45 minutes to give him my Amway sales pitch because he had a hard time with my accent. I heard him screaming with joy when he realized how many products I had to offer. He did get an excellent Jheri Curl knock-off made in China. I’ve not heard back from him. There is no way we could pay for any electrical repair, should the school need it. Surely we could work something out. Do you need any Amway products? If not, Eliot is really good at riding his bike with no hands. We could set him up to generate electricity and he can pedal off his debt. He is in decent shape and can probably produce a good 100-150 continuous watts. Regarding Eliot’s outlet experiment, it is regretful to be sure. As a science teacher, I am crestfallen. He should have known not to stick the paper clip in the hot side of the outlet. I’ve told him over and over it’s only safe to fish metal around on the return side. However, he has always been a bit of a dare-devil and we all know science isn’t his strong suit, but I take full responsibility for this mishap. I love to watch Myth Busters and I’m afraid Eliot’s dyslexia has prevented him from reading the “Do Not Try This At Home” warning. Furthermore, Els never had the opportunity to explore electric outlet science because I have trypophobia, a fear of holes. I’m especially terrified of tiny holes grouped in asymmetrical clusters, but any hole will set off a chain reaction that typically ends with me duct taping everyone’s nose, ears and mouth shut. I once saw a picture of a hole and I was found sitting in a corner slapping myself in the head. Anyway, I had a professional place little plastic hats on all the outlets in our house. El never had the chance to do the “stick-it-in-socket” lab. I did my “outlet lab” when I was 3. Back in the day, bobby pins were the hole-poker of choice. I used to have eyebrows and straight hair but now I save a good bit of money on tweezers and hair perms. Eliot was simply over protected. In fact, I don’t know how he gets through the school day uninjured without foam padding on the corners of every desk. He has not come home with one bruise. The school must be teaching him something. Breakfast Club Saturday detention is going to be hard to swing. I don’t like to wake up early and I don’t think the school bus has a Saturday stop in our neighborhood. I also don’t think there will be any breakfast or club. Hitting him with a Saturday detention, for doing a science lab out-of-order, is a bit stiff. It was a moment of insanity and doesn’t that qualify for a lesser charge? I know the teacher had a panic attack and now fears her room might spontaneously ignite, but I can save her a fist full of money by sharing a few of my Ativan pills. A week on those babies and nothing will bother her. Furthermore, we’ve had a few practice runs at the house today and Eliot now knows how to flip the breaker. Thumbs up on that! He is usually completely worthless. His brother Max has video taped El’s newly mastered skill and will be uploading it to his YouTube channel. Anyway, as I’ve said, that Saturday deal isn’t really going to work out for me. How about I send a box of pencils and erasers and Eliot can serve after school detention instead? He still gets his free lunch, a ride to school and a ride home. You get the valuable extra time with him, pencils, erasers and the satisfaction of giving him his just deserts. It is win-win. Regards, |
Coffee & t 