Selling Frogs and Fighting Crime: A Day at the Student Store

So my tween soon to be teen doesn't care for me to be on her turf.

You know it's not cool to help in the classroom or within a 5 mile radius of it when you're in 8th grade. 

Ooh big girl on campus can't have mommy around.

Truth is, I just gots to.

I have to work in some capacity to fulfill my hours at my daughter's magnet school. 

It's in the rules dear, ha. I win.

Oh sorry.  Childish.

But oh so fair.

Anyhoo.  I chose to work at the student store. 

Each week on Friday lunchtimes, myself and another volunteer sell Oriental Trading Co. and Windy City Novelties goodies to the young'uns.

It's a friggen hoot I tell you!  The stories are hilarious and quick scary too.
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--A student buys about 5 dollars worth of plastic frogs, pencils, and bouncy balls, BUSTED--used his lunch money.

--One boy comes each week and asks for free stuff.  Dude, sorry.

--One boy prefaces, "it's for my mom" when he buys a pink alligator. Surrrrrre it is *coughcoughGIRLFRIENDcoughcough*

--Each Friday one student asks, "will you be here tomorrow, I'll pay you then...." no, tomorrow is Saturday and you won't be here either.

--Learned last week, "don't sell to the detention kids!"  Dang, they're our biggest customers!

--Today a girl bought a second pair of deely-bobber headbands.  What happened to first, "oh I sold them for $2 to a guy at the restaurant!"  Are you going to sell this pair, "I don't know, maybe" (She bought them for $1!  Entrepreneur in the making--I admire that.

--Lady pulls out a $50 bill and is ticked we don't have change.  Um we aren't the bank.

--Vampire teeth are our best seller (will kids still wear them for Christmas??)

--We can't keep colored hair extensions in stock!

--We made $174 in a 2-hour spurt a few weeks back.

--Sorry parents, it was the same week as the book fair and um, I'm sure we outsold the library!
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Then there's the part of the job that we don't care for, breaking up fights.

Today, in my super "used to be a teacher/yard duty/ now a mom" hero mode I ran and got in between two boys smacking the crap out of eachother.

Scary as heck because 1. they are only in 4th or 5th grade, and 2. because they were hitting HARD...oh and 3, my son is that age!!

Yard duty and supervision is minimal thanks to the stinking CA education budgets, so I stood between two crying boys for what seemed like an hour until my co-worked flagged down someone to escort these boys to the office.

I felt sick.  One boy had a brace on his arm that has a metal strip through it.  He smacked that kid hard in the head/face and I wanted to cry.  I'm glad I was there, but if I wasn't who would have been?

Ugh.  I hope that never happens again, and especially on my shift.

I'm ready for more funny stories and less drama.

Sigh.  Another day at the student store.