End of the Week Musings

Does anyone read these things? Don't people agree or get angry with others' opinions? I'm sure the same people who shake their heads, even laugh, at the 50% of Detroiters who would still vote for Kwame can't be bothered with reading someone else's views and offer their own. About a week ago, I sent a rather inflammatory e-mail to about two dozen people, maybe a few more, hoping to get something started. Some of my statements were merely to arouse people, to get a response, even "Shut up, you dumb f**k!" Nope, I had two or three replies. One was simply, "I agree with your views. Thanks for sending them. Keep them coming." Another actually had an idea. And we wonder why KK, Gov Jennie, W, and all of the other bums get elected and re-elected? There's no wonder. How many people did I hear a couple years ago say after KK's re-election, "Detroiters deserve what they get" from this? Well, these same people deserve what they get, too. Unfortunately, so do the rest of us. What was it Jackson said, "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance?" Well, we can be "vigilant" unless Survivor, Dancing with the Stars, American Idol, Desperate Housewives, or whatever most important stuff is on the tube.

Speaking of the tube, my wife was watching some new show when I came in last night. Well, she wasn't actually watching it, but it was on. I asked what this was and she said, "Some new show, Eli something." Well, it took about five minutes, while I unpacked my stuff, took off my shoes, and made Bopper's lunch to figure out this wasn't any "new" show. Yep, you guessed it. Two of the characters were going to bed. One's boyfriend was going somewhere and the law partner of the two hopped in the sack with her. And, it was all so casual.... We wonder why our society is so messed up. We wonder why there is so much promiscuity. We wonder why there are so many unwed mothers. We wonder why there are so many teen-age parents. What, are we stupid? There's no wonder! What is it we glorify? Why isn't there a public outrage against this crap, this junk? What was it I said above, about "getting what we deserve?"

I heard the local school district fired one of its administrators! I'm shocked. This administrator must have really made enemies. After all, how many others have not been fired over the years, despite all kinds of malfeasance, incompetence, even financial, ahem, irregularities? The joke was always what does an administrator have to do to get fired in Huron Valley Schools--they can't do anything to get fired. Ha Ha. The worst, I guess, was to put them back in the classroom, a sort of prison sentence or purgatory. I could regale you with dozens, literally dozens, of stories of idiocy, dishonesty, incompetence, lack of courage, etc. I love the one with an ass't principal who said to a student, "I'm going to put you on a contract," to fix the bad behavior, yeah right. "I know this is your fifth one, but this time I mean it." I burst out laughing in front of the ass't prin, other teachers, and the kids parents. I think I still have a scar, more than 25 years later, from where a counselor sitting behind me kicked me in the back, ostensibly for being so rude. I also liked the time my supervisor, an ass't prin, called me into his office. I was a young teacher, only a few weeks on the job, and, understandably, a bit nervous about this abrupt demand to report to him. He questioned my teaching, something like, "I understand you have been teaching about the Catholic Church in class." Well, yes, I had. "About the popes, bishops, sacraments, and so on." Well, yes. "You admit it?" Well, yes, it's not a secret. Then, when I first knew adminstrators were dolts (as they have proven numerous times over the years), comes, "Don't you think you should give the other side?" "Other side?" What "other side?" "The Protestants...." I think even then, without tenure, only a few weeks on the job, I suppressed a laugh directed at this administrator, before saying, "There was no 'other side.' There were no Protestant Churches. They were about a thousand years away." It was a class in Medieval European History. Not even recognizing what he had displayed, it was "Fine, you're doing a good job. Keep it up." Yeah, right. I remember the time I went to see an ass't prin about some tardies I had written up. It was his policy, for which he received his board-approved several thousand dollar bonus (which, by the way, isn't included in salaries revealed to the public, so the district can say adminstrators really don't get much pay). Yet, I turned in a number of tardies, but received nothing from him--no word of detentions or suspension, no anything. I asked him about these and he said, "Well, the students said they really weren't tardy. You must have made a mistake." I guffawed, laughing right in the guy's face (no wonder they didn't like me, but they made it so easy), before saying, "You don't think these students would lie to avoid a detention or suspension, do you?" The look on his face told me he had never considered the possibility. Then, I went farther, suggesting he "get out of his office" and just stand at the end of the upstairs hallway, any day, any hour, to see the dozens, probably more than 100 tardies in just that small section of the school. Then he might be able to see if I was "making up tardies." To his credit, soon after, there he was--at the end of the hall. But to my knowledge, he never did anything about it. I also complained to the guy about the inordinate number of interruptions to my classes, hour after hour, day after day. He didn't believe me or didn't want to get involved, so I heard nothing. I began collecting just the passes coming from other teachers, coaches, counselors, even the office, and stapling them together and putting them in his mailbox. More days than not, I had well over 30 of these passes, yep, an average of more than 6 per hour! Nope, nothing was done other than an inoccuous e-mail to cut down on the passes. Oh, I'm getting a headache....

Back to Sean Dillon to relax me a bit....

As usual....