Teaching In COVID Times
This year has been challenging for everyone. I started teaching online when COVID struck to keep earning and paying bills. In the middle of this I went from one side of the US to the other. Online work just made sense with everything going on. Part of the cross country travel was moving to the middle of nowhere. My family was getting away from the craziness that is people right now. We want to be mostly off the grid. There is no internet where I now live. There is barely cell service. When we get our house built we plan on having internet, but not much else. My state is still mostly shut down, including the library. Through the summer it was nice to teach outside in the park. I was using my phone as a hotspot and teaching that way. Then winter set in. The park was no longer an option. Snow started falling and temperatures were rarely above 50 in the middle of the day. As much as I love the outdoors, I don't do well with cold. I had so much trouble finding a place to teach. I don't have many friends in the area as I just moved here. I tried the local college, but I'm not a student or professor. I tried the library, but they don't allow any seating at the moment. Chain coffee shops were not helpful. Everyone I talked to, I asked for ideas. Not a single idea panned out. Not a single person gave me any information about when things might change. Not a single person was any help at all. I was about ready to give up and stop teaching altogether. I didn't want to. Teaching was and is my only source of income. Then I ran across a little local coffee shop. They were doing everything they could to stay open and help as many people as possible. It is by the college so they have a lot of college students that use it to study and hang out. They have let me use a corner of the bar. There is a plug on the other side of the bar that my computer is plugged in at. The WiFi is nice and fast. They have saved my teaching career. I love this place. They try to keep the noise down when they know I'm in class. I don't think I could keep teaching without them. I have only been coming here a couple weeks, but they all know me already and are learning how I like my tea. I have a feeling it won't be long before they have it sitting ready for me when I come in. Its not just me they are here for. The students that come in to study are left in peace. For this shop its not just about making a buck. Its about making a difference in the community. They know all the regulars by name. They are doing everything they can to stay open in these rough times. I would say they treat their customers like family, but that has come to mean something different than it did for me growing up. They treat us like the best family in the world. One of the first times I was in here I had trouble finding a plug. The barista helped me look and then when we couldn't find one where I was sitting, she helped me move my stuff to a spot with a plug so my computer wouldn't die. All of the employees have been helpful and nice.
