Well, maybe not paradise, but a pretty good imitation. Friday again too! Two weeks down at St Mary’s of the Middle Class Ladies.

Today we had a fire evacuation. We didn’t know at the time, but a candle in the art room had triggered the fire alarm. We just heard the alarms and knew we had to head for the oval, which we did.

The girls in the library, which is on the second floor, but up three flights of stairs, headed down one floor, but instead of going down the final flight to the ground, they walked the entire length of the building like a herd of cows and then bottle necked at the end staircase.

I turned to the lead teacher and said “shouldn’t we go that way”, pointing to a shorter route, and then the teacher grabbed about 4 girls and went the shorted way. I stood blinking a moment, with about 50 girls milling at the top of the stairs, and so yelled in my best teacher voice for them all to turn around and march down the shorter way. Eventually I got them to the oval and lined up in place for the roll to be called.

One would have thought that they would have had drills in the past and the teachers would react better than they did (well, some actually did) but it didn’t seem a very well run exercise. Luckily there was no real fire, just smoke, and the two fire engines that were called were in fact not required.Where is my damn stick when I need it? No fried girls today, at least!

Tonight was also the school’s Senior formal (like a prom) for the year 12 students. They were joining with the local boys school for the celebrations. I overhead a group of girls listing the alcohol that they had “bought” for the after party. One girl, a willow wisp of a child, said she was taking two bottles of rum!

I did the teacher thing and spoke to the girls, reminding them that they were under 18, the legal drinking age, and I also reminded them that “not very nice things happen to girls who drink”, such as sexual assault. I know it won’t stop them, but at least I feel as though I did my teacher’s best.

Why rum? Why such hard spirits? Tiny young girls, who I am sure wouldn’t have eaten very much all day, why do they want to drink such hard drink? When are young girls going to realise that being off your face drunk is not sexy at all? It is also not grown up. It is sad and pathetic. Same old story.

Anyway, they are out in their pretty new dresses, thinking this is the night of their life, but in fact it is just one night of their life. I am in my bed, and about to close my computer and switch off the light.

Tomorrow is another weekend.  Enjoy.