I'm Adali Mone and this is The Slowdown.

While so many people I know, including myself, have had a hard time over the last few years,

I think the pandemic has been especially hard on the educators in my life.

Whether you are an elementary school teacher like my brother or a college professor like many of my friends,

teaching through these years has been nothing short of harrowing.

I remember my older brother telling me about trying to teach kindergarten in Spanish over Zoom

and how mind-boggling it all seemed.

Not to mention the new teaching models, the new technological skill set

that everyone, including the students and parents, had to learn overnight.

I remember teaching one college class over Zoom and having two students suffering from long

COVID symptoms, trying hard to keep their screens on, and it all seemed so preposterous

that we were supposed to just teach as if these conditions were, quote, normal.

And I can't even begin to describe some of the bizarre antics and comical missteps

that happened in board meetings and committee meetings.

Even so, I am grateful for the virtual spaces we've created and the way they brought us together.

Today's poem deals with the absurdity of those virtual meetings and even more so,

the way our constant need to follow protocol and stick to existing systems can turn any meeting

into a modern day comedy of errors.

The evening meeting by Matthew Zapruder.

Finally, the hour has come. It is time for the long journey I say to my wife and child

farewell and click the blue button. My face appears across from my face.

It is the day we will virtually discuss the unpredictable resolutions I am sure

...