Katy and Louise are best friends. They were in the same class at secondary school until Katy’s parents bought an apartment on the other side of town and Katy had to change schools. But the two girls still see each other often and chat almost every day on the phone. Listen to part of last night’s phone call and then answer the questions.
Louise: You remember Mr Chan who taught maths?
Katy: The one with specs and an un-cool moustache? He once put me in detention for not handing in my homework on time. He wrote a letter to my parents and I got into so much trouble.
Louise: That’s him. Well... guess what happened on Saturday morning?
Katy: Go on.
Louise: I was in the checkout queue with my mum at the supermarket. It was quite busy and Mr Chan was in the same queue as us about three customers in front.
Katy: Ugh... I’d have moved queue. I can’t stand the man.
Louise: He’s got a little kid with him who was being a real nuisance. I assume presume it was his son. The kid kept fishing in the trolley and taking stuff out and Chan was getting really annoyed with him. It was funny to watch.
Katy: Did he see you?
Louise: No. I hid behind Mum. I didn’t want to have to speak to him.
Katy: Right.
Louise: Well, I watched him put all his stuff on the checkout belt and it took him ages. The people in front of me were getting quite impatient. The kid kept taking things off the belt and putting them back in the trolley. I thought Chan was going to hit him.
Katy: He couldn’t control his own kid?
Louise: It took him for ever to pack his bags. Everyone was getting really fed up. But guess what? This would really have pleased you.
Katy: Go on.
Louise: When it was time to pay, Chan couldn’t find his wallet. He stood there going through all his pockets. The kid was shouting and Chan was bright red with embarrassment.
Katy: What happened?
Louise: The checkout girl sent for the manager who took Chan and his trolley away to sort things out. Just as they were walking away, I leaned forward and shouted “Good morning, Mr Chan!” You should have seen the look on his face!
Katy: He heard you?
Louise: I shouted. I wanted to make sure he knew I was in the queue behind him. When we had maths on Monday, he glared at me the whole lesson and didn’t ask me a single question. I could tell he hated that I’d seen him in a situation where he wasn’t in control. You know what he’s like. But he was okay with me on Tuesday. He even smiled at me which is most unusual.
Katy: I bet he always checks he’s got his wallet with him before he goes to the supermarket in future. He won’t want to find himself in a situation like that again.
More teacher gossip next week...