The teachers’ lounge at my elementary school was a place of mystery. It was located on a short hallway that connected a main corridor to the gym entrance. Whenever we passed it, the door was invariably shut…except the rare instance we would catch the last split-second before it closed. I swear the light was a dim orange and cigarette smoke billowed out around the edges of the door. In our imagination, teachers were up to no good in there. We knew some of them were smoking. Were they drinking, too? Were any of them dating?! And why was the light so dim? We couldn’t imagine a transgression more serious than entering the inner sanctum.
They certainly don’t make ’em like that anymore. The teachers’ lounge of today is bright, smoke-free, and often through a perpetually open door. I’ve even seen students in the teachers’ lounge at my school on numerous occasions. Students have no fear of the teachers’ lounge. How have we let it come to this?
My Corner of the Village 