subject-verb agreement

There is always something exciting going on in the General Office - a kid with a nose bleed, a heated discussion between the admin staff and other teachers seeking magical admin help, and almost always, a very hearty laughter by the resident Admin Assistant, C.

C is this healthily corpulent lady with a big voice, one that can effortlessly switch from the most auntie Singlish to the most crisp uppity English.

When things get out of hand in the room, she would say in the most stern, authoritative voice, “Excuse me. The school is an institution of learning. Maintain decorum at all times.”

There is a plaque with those words right above the entrance.

Yesterday C screamed my name when I entered.

“Iskandar! Let me ask you a question. If I call you today, I call you Iskandar. What if I call you yesterday?”

I stared at her, bemused.

“WASkandar!”

And then there was a shrill cackle and joined laughter from everyone in the room, leaving me slightly dumbfounded before I got the joke.

Waskandar.

The GO is really the most happening place in the school. I love having to greet them everyday before I leave that place.

Sometimes I wonder if the plaque was installed because of them.