On Bernie, the USPS, and COVID

If you are logging onto social media, chances are you are experiencing the same thing as me.

Bernie Sanders memes.

Bernie Sanders attended the inauguration of Joe Biden this past Wednesday wearing his brown mittens.  With an envelope in one hand, it appeared Sanders was attending the inauguration before going to the post office.

The jokesters of the internet did not fail us with all the places Bernie and his gloves could appear.

There are thousands more.  If you post a picture of your front yard, seconds later, someone will photoshop Bernie as a new decoration in your yard. 

If you are going to your mailbox, chances are you are ALSO experiencing the same thing as me.

Mail that is weeks late.

I am not anticipating any mail.  This week I was surprised to receive a hospital bill from when Bobby had staples put into his head a few months ago.  When the bill arrived, it was already a week overdue.

Is the USPS slow because they are overwhelmed delivering COVID vaccines? 

I don’t know.  When I ask Google for some answers, the only answer I got was that the USPS makes no guaranteed delivery dates on standard mail.

I suppose I need to get used to paying late fees.  At least for now.

I was also surprised to get a letter from our High School.  “To the parents or guardian of Robert Coupe.”

Hmmm.  What could this be?

When I opened the envelope, I saw that the letter was dated three weeks ago.  It was a warning regarding truant behavior—more than three unexcused absences in a row.

I rolled my eyes and tossed the paper to the side.

When this school year began, the student was responsible for marking their attendance.

The school then had the teachers mark the kids present in each of their classes the following marking period, which was fine – as long as all of their zoom links worked.

When it came to Biology, Bobby could not get into the class.  He emailed his teacher and was instructed on how to make the zoom link work.  I followed the teacher’s instructions but also could not get Bobby into class.

Being responsible, Bobby did not want his mother to step in.  His response? “I will handle it.”

Finding Bobby watching YouTube or playing video games every day at 10:24 – right when Biology was to begin, I realized “I will handle it” meant, “I will email the teacher and let him know I still can’t get in, but hey, I tried.”

Hours later, the Biology teacher provided me a link for Bobby to attend class at my request.

So, regardless that Bobby attended every other class those days and reached out to his Biology teacher about a faulty zoom link, his teacher still marked him repeatedly absent.  Bobby is now a truant child.

Sheesh.

I can’t imagine the headache this must be for the administration to figure out which students are legitimately missing classes regularly and why.  The virtual learning world has some hiccups that need some attention.  I guess there is still plenty of time to figure it all out.

Having two more students test positive for COVID, the High School is moving to all virtual learning for the time being.  Unfortunately, those two new cases were members of Bobby’s basketball team.  Even though he is symptom-free, last week, Bobby began his 14-day quarantine. 

Bobby spends his days with video games, youtube, and TV in his room. Signing on to ALL his classes for proper attendance.

While I sit downstairs and giggle at all the new places I see Bernie appear.