Of Ducklings, Plastic Owls & Workplace Weirdness

Yesterday afternoon, a flurry of e-mails were sent in my school building, none of which (seemingly related to the business of education, but did (whether folks realized it or not) shed some light on where folks “stand.” If you’ll recall, last week I wrote briefly about the artificial pond outside my second story classroom window and the two ducks I observed floating therein. A day later (though I did not post about it) I noticed that there were some ducklings running around… apparently, someone had laid eggs which in turn had hatched.

This event precipitated the following “cold” e-mail to all staff:

Good Afternoon,

First let me say, this is not a joke, so please don't send back mean, sarcastic emails, no matter how much you may want too. (you know who are!!)

The crows in the courtyard have already eaten 6 baby ducks. There are 2 more mommy ducks sitting on nests with eggs close to hatching. We would like to see all of them survive.

If anyone has Owl statues, or something similar, please consider bringing them in and placing them in the courtyard to scare away the crows.

Thank you for any help you can give. (and no, I'm not nuts, I just like baby ducks).

The e-mail was signed by one of the unassuming professionals who work in the office, not one of the teachers. I felt it was a sincere plea… and in truth, who would such a small request “hurting”? Bottom line, while I was unlikely to bring an owl in, though I would if I had one, this person cared enough to open themselves up to ridicule, so why not leave it alone and let those who can (and want to) help do so?

Of course, this being the “real” world, things are never that simple…