Shanks for the memories

I subbed for a welding class yesterday, mostly because I needed the money, and partly because the class has a plasma cutter & I've never used one. I talked to the instructor before he left (he's a friend of mine) and he walked me through what doors to lock, etc. He told me briefly that they shouldn't need to use the grinder, because he'd caught them making shanks. "I didn't really care," he said, "until one of 'em cut another one on Tuesday. Now I gotta watch 'em." Fucking great.

There are actually two grinders: a bench grinder and a 4" angle grinder with a worn-down wheel. I wondered if he meant both grinders, because they were working on boot scrapers and for as crappy as their welds were they needed to grind at least some. It didn't matter, because they immediately started to use the plasma cutter to cut little blade shapes out of the scrap metal. Two of the kids needed to finish welding, so I supervised that. They tend to not wear proper eye protection unless you constantly remind them, and I figure the MIG is where they needed me most.

Long story short: I confiscated three shanks, the longest of which was about 5 1/2 " long. They were just pathetic attempts, and they went through unnecessary pains to create them. There were 6" lengths of one inch flat stock all over which would've worked much better. Plus, they can't grind to save their lives. If I sound unfazed, you must remember that my mother worked in a prison for twenty years, and I know a good shank when I see one. I am coming to understand how to deal with these situations, and I simply asked them to turn over all shanks to me at the end of class. It worked. Had I gone to the Sociopath, her response would've been to blame me for "allowing" such behavior to go on. Plus, I would've put my friend's job at risk. The parents do not believe that such behavior is wrong, because after all, they're not REALLY shanks, and it's just boys being boys; thus, there would be no follow-up at home. In addition, to rat the boys out would cause some animosity towards me, creating a desire to ACTUALLY shank me. If this sounds insane, it absolutely is. I am simply reacting to a crazy situation in a way that preserves my well-being and shards of sanity.