Push

November 18, 2009

The phone rings. The voice on the other end says, "Can we make the trade in the back parking lot by the outdoor basketball court?"

I receive a text, "I need starts. Can you set me up?"

An e-mail asks, "Where will you be at 5:45 and can I catch up with you there?"

I find myself passing baggies at curbside, then driving away. People at church slip things into my jacket pocket as I stand in the vestibule ushering. I meet up with people in strange parts of town after dark, but only for a minute.

If the fed tailed me, I think my behavior would raise suspicion.

What I'm really doing is moving lanyards and lanyard supplies around town. Sometimes I'm a "clucker" and sometimes I'm a "bagman" or a "mule." Mainly, I'm just trying to guarantee "merchandise" and an "easy score" so people will know I've "got it going on."

[NOTE BENE: I looked up these street slang words on the White House Drug Policy website to make sure I was using them correctly. Here's what I think I said: Sometimes, I'm a middleman and sometimes I'm a supplier or a courier. Mainly I'm just trying to make sure that my friends can get lanyards as well as beads and other supplies without having to wait too long so that we raise more money for neuroblastoma research more quickly.]

When I am not "working" these days, I'm actually working. I push my green pen around on exams and push ideas out of my head into my students heads. Unbelievably, I have only four more class days left, plus finals. I hope I don't have work left when I've run out of semester.