I’m back invigilating exams today. There were meant to be nine of us, but three potatoes didn’t show up so I was leading a team mostly potato free, which actually makes it easier in the long run. The ones who came into work were mostly functional human beings with common sense and huge lives outside the room we are in. “I just have to call the hospital,” says one of them. “Apparently I’ve got lung cancer now.” I react with suppressed shock and she reaches out to touch my arm, comforting me. (!) “Oh don’t worry. I’ve had cancer before.” She shrugs. I don’t know what she’s retired from but she’s brilliant. Many of them are, but I rarely get to work with the good ones as we get made leaders and often have to preside over a room of potatoes, if they show up.
The workforce in this gig is split between actors and people who have retired for various reasons and then current highly academically intelligent students making an extra buck and then cheap people from somewhere who often don’t show… It’s a weird dynamic.
Today one of the Multiple Choice answer sheets got lost at the end of the exam. The one person who had put it somewhere stupid was the only person to leave early. We all had to spend ages digging through things just to correct that person’s mistake. I don’t think they’re paid very well. But … you get your moneys worth, as often as not.
Miserable rainy April. I really want summer now. I’m just done with the cold and the muck. I’m not gonna have much headspace in the next month or so. It’s better than it was, but getting out of bed still involves that temperature plummet and the sooner that stops the happier I’ll be.
For now though, into bed and head down. Early start again tomorrow.
AlBarclay 