Guess Who's Around the Corner?

My co-workers have spoken: I can't go to my pharmacy anymore.



Carrie, Shane, and I were there several months ago when a woman who worked there got trapped in the refrigerator. She banged loudly but Carrie and I both thought someone was working on the roof, at first.

A customer saw the trapped woman while reaching for milk and yelled. I jumped up and ran over. Employees came running from every direction. They got the woman out, the pharmacist even said "she's ok...the door wasn't locked...," and I have recognized the woman ever since.

At least, I assumed that memory is why I always recognize her.

Shane and I bumped into her again recently.

She recognized me.

Shane was squirming and she did not speak clearly, so I had trouble understanding her. She told me that I taught her son. She asked if I was still at the same school, and if the other man teacher was there (it took me a bit to figure that all out). There was a long line, so that was about as far as we got. I scanned for a name tag, but I didn't see one.

I carted Shane off with a feeling of unease.

Normally, I like bumping into my ex-students and their parents. It bothered me that I'd been so dense not to recognize one, but it felt like there was a deeper reason I missed.

Memories crept up as I drove home. I had a student/mother combo years ago that was very challenging (for the whole department). There were mental health issues involved (paranoia). The student spotted an envelope on my desk once. I noticed him looking and put it away, but he memorized the address on it from that point on.

"Do you live at 74-- XXX street?" he asked.

"No."

"Who does?"

"Actually, my parents do." I figured that would throw him off and he'd forget a random sequence of numbers. The kid was supremely unmotivated in school and usually showed zero retention of lesson. Why would he care about where a teacher's parents live?

He repeated the address to me throughout the school year. "Your parents live at ----, right?"

Creepy, huh?

That's only one small story I'm sharing. There were many others. It became standard procedure to never speak on the phone to the parent alone or to be alone with the student without a witness. Many false accusations were made, and thankfully, none of them stuck to anybody.

And now that parent popped up right where Shane and I sometimes go to run up and down aisles.

I called Matt G to confirm my suspicions. It was her.

On one hand, I'm very glad that the mom has a job that she seems to be good at and I've seen her at for a period of time. That could mean things are going better for both of them.

On the other, I understand why I received "You need to be careful about going there again" advice. I avoid using my real last name on here for a reason! Carrie may have to go pick up prescriptions for me from here on out!

Honestly though, I'm not sure if I will go back inside there again. It's not that I hold a grudge, so much as I want to avoid anything that might hurt my career (and thereunto my ability to provide for my family). I learned a long time ago that a mere whiff of accusation can cause huge repercussions in my field (the Lucas story comes to mind...maybe I'll type that up one day).

In the meantime, it makes for a different type of story than I normally write. I figured I'd throw it out there to put some drama in the mix!