Why Teachers Don't Get Paid Enough

My daughter, who teaches high school science, shared this story with me. She has a new student in class as of yesterday – I don't know the young lady’s name – but she hadn’t yet been to school this year because she’s been in juvenile detention. She is currently wearing a “house arrest” ankle bracelet under her knee socks because she’s being charged with felonious assault. With a can opener.

That's probably better than felonious assault with a gun or knife, but a felony is a felony and my daughter is still wary. In fact, here's what she wrote to me:

"To look at the girl from the ankle up, she's sweet as pie. Cute, small framed, wore a pony tail and a headband. But look at her from the ankle down and all you see is a little square that says 'back off, bitch, I'll kill you with the first blunt object I can grab." 

Think about that the next time someone says "Teachers have it easy, they get the summer off."

Ode to Cupcakes

The mighty

Chai tea

cupcakes

are wonderful

stuff

When my buddy

Meghan

makes ‘em

I can’t get

enough

Thoughts and Memories: A Very Narrow View of 9/11

Mention 9/11 to me and I think of my former coworker, Bob.  He's the guy who's always in my answer to the question "Where were you when it happened?" We were working at Schottenstein’s, I walked past Bob's desk and he said “Brad (his partner) just called. A plane hit the World Trade Center.”

I no longer take peace for granted. I called my mom that day and told her to turn on her TV because “we’re being attacked.” I’d never had to say anything like that before in my life. It had never even occurred to me that I might.

I worry that I’ll have to say it again. Before 9/11, I lived in a world that felt mostly safe. I may have worried a bit about crime, but never about a war being fought on my turf, or about mass destruction and chaos. Another attack seems almost inevitable to me now.

Every morning before I go to work, I turn on the news as I’m getting ready. This started the day after 9/11, and I don’t think I’ve missed a day since. When the inevitable happens, I want to know it.

I still have bottled water and two boxes of emergency supplies in the basement: Duct tape. Batteries. First aid kit. Some – by now – very old peanut butter and canned goods. In my mind I know it’s basically worthless, but I feel better knowing it’s there.

I now have a deep-rooted respect for firefighters, police officers and those who serve in the military. I don’t always agree with the politics of these institutions, but the men and women who rush in where angels fear to tread are aces in my book and I'm grateful to them.

I love Rudy Guiliani and Tony Blair. Rudy held it together for us day after day. My daughter and I were watching TV together when Prime Minister Blair pledged Britain's support to the US and we openly declared our love for him right then. It felt good to have friends.

Overt displays of patriotism bring a tear to my eye. Before 9/11, hearing the National Anthem or seeing a color guard didn’t phase me a bit and now they do. I’m misty-eyed right now, just thinking about it.