CONSUMMATE ROOMS IN THE SCHOOL

by Simon Glass

A gigantic and cumbersome green building. It looks so unlike a school building, instead it resembles a business building. People passing by are confused because they do not notice that it is a school. It is so different to other schools. It has capacious land around it with lots of asphalt. Tucked away in a corner lives a diminutive cottage made previously by former students, surrounded by garden beds. The cottage gasps for breath during the day while students puff away on their cigarettes. Butts are thrown randomly around the cottage.

There are sizeable sheds for buses to live in, seeking protection from the students and the weather. There is a mixture of trees, worn and withered, supported by younger upright trees, proud to be in a place of learning. There are many sporting areas such as the tennis, basketball courts and football ovals. The windows are dirty, struggling to let in the light, all except for the windows in the Principal's office, sparkling clean so he can keep an eagle eye on the students.

The school has a Facility. It is a truly feminine room, an unblemished and uncluttered office. It is always warm and welcoming, so comfortable with a wide-open area. It has angular rooms with light-pink walls that are just right for females. The walls have suffered the pain of students who brutally gouge out pieces of plaster from the surface. Attempts have been made to paint over the wall, like a woman putting make-up on her face before someone visits her, to make people think she is a clean and a caring person. The Facility staff are all females, there are no men.

The office looks able-bodies with its attached rooms. There are huge greenish doors and an even bigger entry door. Photos provide memories of past students. The four miniature square rooms have many different posters on the pinkish walls. The rooms are always friendly, reflecting the staff who are offering moral support, sympathising and instrumental in learning.

The Facility's best friends are the Maths room on the first floor and the computer room on the same floor. The Maths room is obviously a masculine room because it is not a groomed or good-humoured room. It is never cosy and warm. It is a square room and gives the appearance that it does not look after itself. the walls are painted milky white but there are many marks on them. It is such a disorganised room with windows full of sports of dirt. There is a picture of a famous man called Albert Einstein, accompanied by the famous formula E=mc2 There is also an attenuated bandage that shows the never-ending formulae of Pi. It looks very un-welcoming because it is a distinguished, egotistical room. The room gives the impression that Maths is only for intellectual people and stands above the others because of its superiority.

The Computer room is a rectangular room. It is very organised and uncluttered room with extraordinary comfortable chair for students. The tables are in three rows carefully situated so that they are free from weeds of scraps of paper. It also has snowy walls without marks on them. Because there are no heaters, it is a chilly room lauding its superiority over others. Even though it is not a fresh room, it seems to be getting rusty and old. Some posters about technology line the walls. Old and new computers compete with each other, calling for the attention of students who aspire to be budding computer whizzes.

These rooms are the essential rooms in a school. Over the years they have seen countless numbers of students pass through them, eager to absorb as much knowledge as possible. The Maths and computer rooms try to be more superior than the Facility, but they will never be as warm and caring as the Facility.


Big Book '97