Welcome me at the Exit

Post date: Feb 20, 2017 8:21:25 AM

By: Aisee Paguio Cruz, MAEd, BNHS T-III

I was eating alone in a fast food chain when I noticed something. I keep on hearing the greetings of the crew since I was sitting near the entrance/exit door. I observed that whoever enters will be addressed or called as Ma’am or Sir: “Good morning, Ma’am!”, “Welcome to (name of the fast food chain), Ma’am/Sir!” For those who are entering and “Please come again, Ma’am/Sir!” and “Thank you for coming!” for those who are going out. Among those greetings, the greetings for those going out greatly struck me.

What has this got to do with my life? With my profession? With me as a teacher? What could those simple fast food chain greetings do to me?

Students are expected to call us Ma’am/Sir for being their teachers. However, being called as one doesn’t necessarily mean that the child truly respects us. They may also greet us with good morning or good afternoon but that doesn’t also mean that they really have a great time or nice feeling seeing us. Sometimes they are just uttering those out of respect or just a part of the routine which they got used to for so many years of being in school, a protocol I must say. It’s a truth to be told, but that is certainly reality.

On the first day of the school year, no matter what happens, a teacher has to welcome and accept whatever class/section will be given to him. That is also similar to what students feel. Most of the times, they do not have any choice but to welcome us in their lives.

In my own observation, teachers rarely receive the greetings in the exit. I realized that one should have done something really amazing in order for the students to open the door not only to let us exit from their lives but for them to personally tell us the exit greetings like “Please come again and thank you for coming, Ma’am/Sir!”

Indeed, “each school year is a dine in a fast food chain.” Everything happens so fast. Students come and go. We are welcomed with greetings as we enter each new door. I just hope, students can open the door for us not to only exit from their lives but to welcome us to the door on their way to future where they will use and apply what we have taught them. It would be nice to dine with them again, this time because they chose to, they wanted to, they really do.