The "Oil Man is Coming" Story

It was an ordinary day. I was sitting in the Principal's office. Mr. H., the Principal, was my boss at MTHS. He wasn't happy right now!! It all started about two months ago. I was responsible for turning in a requisition for materials I would need in my classroom the following year. All Industrial Arts teachers do this. I had a certain amount I could spend so I was always hunting for the best buys for the supplies. Well, this year I had some really good suppliers who I had been ordering from for quite a few years and they gave me a really good break in prices. Because of that I did not reach the allotted amount I could spend. So......I thought it would be funny to add something extra onto my requisition to give everyone a laugh. What I added didn't turn out to be so funny. It got by my department chairman, but I figured it would since he never checked anything. At this point it has to be typed by the secretaries so it can be ordered. They secretaries typed all of the purchase orders for everything and turned them over to Mr. H. who would give the final OK, then have the purchase orders placed in the mail for delivery. Now Mr. H. runs a tight ship. That's why I really like him as my boss. It's easy to discipline a student, because you know that Mr. H. will back anything reasonable you do. I'm sitting here in his office now because he didn't back me on this one. As a joke I ordered 1000 gallons of fuel oil and put on the order "To be delivered to 925 Janet Ave." which was my home. I now have to explain why I did this. "I thought it would give everyone a good laugh. You know how we all need to laugh at times to keep our sanity." I tried to explain. He looked at me and said, "Do you know how many hours you cost the school district? Your department chairman had to read this, the secretaries had to take their time to type this and now I have to spend my time with this problem. What would have happened if this really was delivered to your house?" He's staring at me now. I know he is even thought I'm not looking at him. I got my head down. We have had a good rapport in the past and I always do a little extra to please him and he always supports what I want to do in class. But now, this big man (All-American football player for F&M) isn't laughing. I don't think he is, anyway. I reply softly, "I guess I would have used the oil to heat my house this winter." I hear nothing so I lift my head and look at him. He can hardly keep from laughing. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.