The other day, I mentioned that the boss at the afternoon school that I help out at didn’t allow me to take time off while others were allowed to go to Guatemala and San Diego.

Of course, there were times when I simply said that I needed an afternoon off and that was notified well in advance. One such situation was a Wednesday evening, when I normally had an online session with a student named SM. I informed the school that I needed that day off because there was a makeup hockey game that I was going to broadcast. It was a makeup game, and I had no control over that time, and I gave a one-week notice.

Sure enough, that day came, and I was getting ready to head to the hockey rink for the game. Suddenly, I received some text messages from the school saying the student SM was waiting for me. I replied reminding the boss that I had asked for that day off. I was then instructed to, the next time that I had a lesson with SM, to say that I was “sick” and could not make it.

What? I was doing something that I enjoyed — broadcasting a hockey game — and certainly something that I should be proud of sharing, but I was instructed to tell the student that I was “sick” and couldn’t do that class. That was the excuse the school came up with — I was “sick” — and I was told to lie to the student to keep the story straight. I was instructed to keep my hockey broadcasting a hidden secret. I was told to lie, plain and simple.

Another time, I had a student named A who himself was a student athlete and sometimes missed classes due to soccer. That was fine, except his mother instructed the school to let A read historical novels in our lessons — but to NOT LET THE STUDENT KNOW IT WAS HIS MOTHER’S IDEA. My boss told me NOT TO SAY THAT IT WAS HIS MOTHER’S IDEA. I’m not sure why that would be the case, but I was given the title of a historical novel to assign to the student. When the class suddenly changes like that, I feel that I need to explain it to the student instead of just acting like it is random. So, I simply stated to the student in class that I was asked to assign this novel. I went over my expectations of the assigned readings and what we would be doing. I reiterated it wasn’t my idea but I was asked to assign it. The student figured out who was behind this…but anyway, this was another instance when I was asked to lie.

Shame on me….a few weeks ago on a Friday, I was enjoying a meal in the afternoon at the local mall food court. Suddenly, I received a phone call from the school’s management staff begging me to head over to the school to handle a class. I had not been informed beforehand that I was needed that day and was therefore enjoying a meal at the mall food court. I should have just “lied” and said I was “sick.” However, being the loyal person that I am, I finished off my meal and took an Uber — in rush-hour traffic — to get there. I was needed for only 1.5 hours. It was a waste of my time and very inconsiderate of the school to do that. Yet I helped out. The school clearly did not — and does not — appreciate my efforts and treated me like I could be taken advantage of, to be taken granted for…when they needed something from me.