Kintropy In Action

Janette and I belong to a fanastic synagogue and school.  On moving to Oregon, we tried out several synagogues over a year or so, and we fell in love with this one.  Although I was raised in the Reform tradition, I was still drawn to this Conservative synagogue. 

We loved their Tot Shabbat.  I checked out their school.  They proudly highlighted their experience working with kids with disabilities in an inclusive, typical classroom.  This was the place for us.

Unfortunately, it's about forty-five minutes from the house.  And, oh, Janette and I are both habitually early.

This morning, Gabriel and I arrived at 8:45am for a 9:00 start time.  In my book, that was practically running late, but the parking lot was near empty. Gabriel and I headed inside.  His classroom was dark.  A few people will scattered about.  Hmmmm...

His teacher arrived just as Gabriel and I were begin to walk the halls to kill some time.  We helped her prepare the classroom.  Her co-teacher arrived a few minutes before 9.

"We're not ready yet," she commented tersely.  "You'll need to stay with your son.  We don't start until 9."

"No problem.  I had planned to."

She hurried off to gather more stuff for the classroom.  It took me a moment to brush aside her tone.  Gabriel and I talked and greeted an Aba (father) and his two sons as they joined us.  We shared names, discovered shared countries of origin in Europe, and chatted a bit.

About 9:05, both teachers were ready to start class.  I left the classroom, wandered around a bit, then headed back to my car.

And people were streaming into the school:  every one of them LATE!  My internal clock is set to PST + 15 minutes to make sure we're on time; my parent peers were set to JST:  Jewish Standard Time.

I know JST.  I grew up with JST.  I just never internalized it. 

In the end, I was, of course, a half-hour early to joining Gabriel in the main sanctuary.  Oh well, met some new people along the way!

-- Dad