$4,500

That's the total damage done to my car.

That's more than I take home in a month. I wasn't kidding when I told my principal that day it did not pay to come into work. In fact, it didn't pay that whole month!

In the last post, I told you one of the reasons why I hadn't posed in awhile. The other reason is because I've spent oodles of time and energy persuading my school to pay for the damage to my car. I sent emails back and forth to HR. I spent hours in meetings with my principal. I even went to the top, emailing our charter's CEO. That move got our HR person to my school, though she arrived four minutes before my next class started, and only to tell me "No. There's nothing we can do."

I felt so defeated, and I finally put my hands up in the air. Fine, I thought. I'll pay. I'll eat the cost. I just want my car fixed. I just want the damage erased.

Then I went to school the next morning and learned another teacher's car was keyed. Phrases like "oh hell no," "told you so" and "power in numbers" floated across my mind, so I talked to this teacher. Being new and young and still passionate, he didn't want to rock the boat. Being older and jaded and knowing better, I told him they are taking advantage of us. If he didn't want to put his neck on the line, that was fine, because what happened to his car was enough. So I walked to my principal's office and respectfully said I refused to take no for an answer, and had everyone listened to me, that other teacher's car might not have been damaged. Then I had a list of questions, easily summarized by this: what will they do to make this right?

My principal heard me out, and she understood where I'm coming from. I also think she is a little worn down by my pushiness and relentlessness. But that's fine by me, because I learned late last week that the charter organization is finally going to pay for the damages. I have to get several estimates and hand them over.

I'm a little reluctant to celebrate yet with the way things have gone. I won't feel totally at ease until I'm looking at my car the way it used to be. And the funny thing is that's how I feel about myself--I won't know things are better until I feel the way I used to--hopeful, optimistic, enthusiastic, and trusting.