the myriad joys of subbing

Today I was at a high school, and 3/4 of the class apparently decided to skip class (once word got around that there was a sub). As a high school sub, you always have a few kids that do that, and honestly, I'm fine with it (because a. it's easy as hell to write them up for skipping, and b. usually those are the kids who you desperately want NOT to attend). I guess once they they found out their regular teacher wasn't there, they bolted as fast as possible, and probably went over to hang out at the mall. I did what I normally do, wrote them all up, and went on with the day with those who stayed. In these cases, the discipline problem pretty much solves itself (the epitome of those "natural consequences" we're always talking about), and about the only thing I had to do all day was tell a couple of kids to put away cell phones. Those who were there were really focused. They were so focused in fact, that it was downright spooky.