Well...just to prove that it is rarely true that the way Alabama goes, the U.S. goes: Romney is now up against Obama for President. Santorum is happily out. He is probably as happy as anyone it is over for him. The first debate is October 3rd. I think Obama will take it. I think Romney is a very out of touch man and he is about to prove it. I think he is out of touch with the needs of this country, the requirements of the Presidency, the everyday citizen in the United States, and his own wife. Ann certainly does not seem up to being First Lady. She is frazzled by the campaign and said in an interview when asked what she would say to the Republicans who criticize her husband..."Stop it. This is hard." Hey lady, it is supposed to be.
I will be the first to admit that Michelle Obama did not appeal to me at first. She seemed distant and cold; indifferent even. I think during the campaign she was a bit intimidated by it all. She has proven she is more than up to the job of First Lady. She has ingratiated our country to everyone she has seen (well, except for touching the Queen of England but even that was smoothed out and forgiven). She is a wonderful representative of this country. I don't see that ever being the case for Ann Romney. Even her husband said they did not want to use her too soon in the campaign because they were worried people would tire of her. Really? Is that what he thinks of his wife? Does he not think we would tire of her in four years?
Ann Romney reminds me of Marie Antoinette. Is she responsible for her husband's finances, his deeds, or his behavior? No, but she certainly doesn't try to help. Ann has said things like (paraphrasing here), We aren't going to worry about those people, You people need to stop it, and We've given all you people need to know (referring to her and Mitt's tax returns). She has consistently placed herself "apart" from the United States citizens she wants to represent. She has, in truth, felt herself above all of us - even before the election gets going. How might she act and feel if Mittens is elected. I say again it won't be pretty. Her behavior will affect her husband, and worse, our reputation in the world. When Marie Antoinette was asked how she could continue to spend frivolously when French citizens were starving (literally) in the streets, she replied quite seriously, "Let them eat cake." We now call this a sarcastic response; one I am sure she regretted to the bitter end. They dragged her from her pretty palace in her stately bedroom. They put her in prison, found her guilty and sentenced her to death alongside her husband. They used their shiny guillotine to put an end to the hedonistic reign of two monarchs. I can't help but think if they had been kinder, more concerned and caring leaders, the history of France, and perhaps the world, would be different.
In our country, we just don't re-elect you once you have screwed us over. Most of us still remember it was a Republican who did that last. I don't think Ann Romney or her husband will ever be kinder, caring, or concerned with anything which does not make them richer or more powerful. I think Mitt needs to see we are already tired of his wife. He should keep her at home, where it is more than obvious, she really would rather stay.
We need a leader who has proven he cares about the people in this country, not just the money in his wallet. Next month, I will be voting for Barack Obama. Is he perfect? No. Has any President of the United States ever been perfect? No. I will also be voting for any other Democrat on the ballot. Why? Because our President needs a Congress that will work with him for us, not against him for themselves. It is not about Obama versus Romney. It is about the Democratic philosophy; their way of working. The Republicans have shown time and again they are the party of destruction and ruin in this country. We still have not recovered from what George W. Bush did in his administration. Republicans are the party of selfishness; the party of "me." The Democrats do try and put the puzzle back together. They are the party of "us." You are elected to serve "we the people", not to put yourself above those who put you in office. All men and women who aspire to political office (on a local or national level) would do well to remember this because you serve only with the consent of the people. In this country we have no guillotines, but we do have a revolution. We do have the vote in November. We will say we are not going back to a selfish, short sighted Republican spend-to-death system. We are going to say loud and clear to any Republicans who remain in Washington and in our State governments: We want change. We want to rebuild our country and your free ride is over.
Monday, October 1, 2012
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
OMG I Hate Election Years!!!
I don't like election years. I don't like junk mail in general and it increases ten-fold this time of year. I hate phone calls that say "Out of Area" or "Private Caller" and don't answer them except to hang up again. They are a waste of my time. For these reasons, I am pleased the primary is over. I will also be glad when it is Thanksgiving. I believe our current President will still be our President. Of course, it is possible he won't, but I don't believe he will be defeated. I live in Alabama the Red (Republican) state. I love Alabama; always have. "Alabama the Beautiful" is not just a slogan, it is beautiful here. Despite our politics we have a really great state. Is it perfect? No. I would challenge anyone to prove theirs is. We all have room to grow and improve.
Today I am embarrassed to be from Alabama. Rick Santorum? Really? Nauseated does not begin to describe how I feel about him. He is a very sick man with some very sick ideas and ideals. He wants to be King and someone forgot to tell him we don't have "Divinely Ordained Rulers" in the good old U.S. of A.
He actually said that you know. He said he was ordained by God to win the nomination. I can't help but wonder why he believes this. Hmm...nah. He is one sick and scary little man. If he is the best the Republicans have, that is just very sad. It is sad because I KNOW Republican "supporters" (i.e. friends) who have more sense and sensibility than that man. Any one of them could and would do a better job in the White House than him. You know, Rick, you can't believe your own press. That's when you start losing touch.
I will be the first to admit that Barack Obama was not my candidate of choice 4 years ago today. I supported Clinton and I still believe that while she is probably glad she is not the POTUS, she would have done a knock out job. She is a smart, capable woman. Yet, while Obama was not my choice, and I was sad that Hillary dropped out and endorsed him, I did as she asked and supported him. I have never been regretful. I knew that ANY Democrat (Hell - anyone from any other party) would be better than a Republican back in the building.
I think, as it turns out, Barack Obama has done a good job for the people of this country - even those that hate him. He could have done a better job with the support of the United States Congress. They have worked against him with a fervor that this country has never seen. We have never seen men and women that hate one man so much that they would work to destroy this country, just so it would look like it was done on his watch. They are the most childish and worthless leaders this country has ever had, these Republican Congress-people. And make no mistake: this is about hating Obama, not hating the Democrats. The Republicans say they don't want a class war, but fund it with every word they utter and every work they do. They do it to make him look bad. I wonder why that is. Assuredly not because he is a....Democrat.
Then there is this War on Women. I guess if Hillary had won the election, she would have been hated because she is a woman. The Republicans (especially the TP's) wouldn't be able to stand it if she looked good in the highest office in the land. After all, the Republicans believe women don't even need to vote, much less be in politics. I find it almost laughable (on an insane sort of level) that even the Republican Congresswomen and women Senators feel this way!! Excuse me, but why aren't they at home in their own damn kitchens? Why do they think it is okay to work in politics if women don't need to vote or voice a political opinion? It is things like this that make me think someone in Washington is pouring some lethal fruit punch for people and they are slurping it right up.
The Republican politicians are saying the most bizarre and most insane things we have ever heard from them. They're coming up with the absolutely most illogical baloney to write in Bills I have seen in my lifetime of watching political shenanigans.
We are not idiots you bunch of morons!
We know the new ultrasound-abortion garbage (and it is garbage) is only a loud distraction during an election year. We also know it is unconstitutional and you will allow the waste of millions of dollars and tie up our court systems in this country with this banal argument only to have it all reversed in say, 10 years. This was settled when the Supreme Court decided on Roe v. Wade. This was already decided. You don't have to have an abortion, but it is legal if you want one. You, Mr. and Mrs. Republican Party, are the biggest bunch of asses I can think of. You are the waste in this country. You are the "domestic terror" in this country; you and your "War on Women."
We should be working together to fix our national problems and you sit around happily causing more. Why? To keep people from seeing what you are really doing. You do it to make people angry and get them worked up about things other than the election. You cannot find true Presidential fault with Obama so you are going to scream "fire" in a theater so no one will stay and watch the film. Oh yes, we see you. We also know you are wrong. You are inept as a party and you try to hide that incompetence to lead with distractions, innuendo, and lies. That does not make you a superior person or party. That just makes you pathetic.
Yesterday, I registered as a Democrat because I would not want any Republican to believe I agreed with them. I don't want your Republican mail or calls. I have always tried to vote the candidate, not the party and have a particular distrust of people voting only a party. I feel no one who is unqualified should ride the coat tails of those who are. There may come a day when I see a Republican who has changed, who has higher ideals, who wants to put our country first. Right now, I don't see that. Right now, I don't think I ever again will see that. Any American, any political party, that would not choose to put Americans first is truly sad and un-American.
As a side note:
Look at the history of "Red" politics around the world. Look at the meaning of being "red." Why would any "American" political party want to be red? Isn't that what they used to call Communists back in the 50's and 60's? Really? We do not have to be "Red." We do not have to be a stalled Republican State. Move forward to the future Alabama.
Good luck Mr. Obama. You have 1 vote.
Today I am embarrassed to be from Alabama. Rick Santorum? Really? Nauseated does not begin to describe how I feel about him. He is a very sick man with some very sick ideas and ideals. He wants to be King and someone forgot to tell him we don't have "Divinely Ordained Rulers" in the good old U.S. of A.
He actually said that you know. He said he was ordained by God to win the nomination. I can't help but wonder why he believes this. Hmm...nah. He is one sick and scary little man. If he is the best the Republicans have, that is just very sad. It is sad because I KNOW Republican "supporters" (i.e. friends) who have more sense and sensibility than that man. Any one of them could and would do a better job in the White House than him. You know, Rick, you can't believe your own press. That's when you start losing touch.
I will be the first to admit that Barack Obama was not my candidate of choice 4 years ago today. I supported Clinton and I still believe that while she is probably glad she is not the POTUS, she would have done a knock out job. She is a smart, capable woman. Yet, while Obama was not my choice, and I was sad that Hillary dropped out and endorsed him, I did as she asked and supported him. I have never been regretful. I knew that ANY Democrat (Hell - anyone from any other party) would be better than a Republican back in the building.
I think, as it turns out, Barack Obama has done a good job for the people of this country - even those that hate him. He could have done a better job with the support of the United States Congress. They have worked against him with a fervor that this country has never seen. We have never seen men and women that hate one man so much that they would work to destroy this country, just so it would look like it was done on his watch. They are the most childish and worthless leaders this country has ever had, these Republican Congress-people. And make no mistake: this is about hating Obama, not hating the Democrats. The Republicans say they don't want a class war, but fund it with every word they utter and every work they do. They do it to make him look bad. I wonder why that is. Assuredly not because he is a....Democrat.
Then there is this War on Women. I guess if Hillary had won the election, she would have been hated because she is a woman. The Republicans (especially the TP's) wouldn't be able to stand it if she looked good in the highest office in the land. After all, the Republicans believe women don't even need to vote, much less be in politics. I find it almost laughable (on an insane sort of level) that even the Republican Congresswomen and women Senators feel this way!! Excuse me, but why aren't they at home in their own damn kitchens? Why do they think it is okay to work in politics if women don't need to vote or voice a political opinion? It is things like this that make me think someone in Washington is pouring some lethal fruit punch for people and they are slurping it right up.
The Republican politicians are saying the most bizarre and most insane things we have ever heard from them. They're coming up with the absolutely most illogical baloney to write in Bills I have seen in my lifetime of watching political shenanigans.
We are not idiots you bunch of morons!
We know the new ultrasound-abortion garbage (and it is garbage) is only a loud distraction during an election year. We also know it is unconstitutional and you will allow the waste of millions of dollars and tie up our court systems in this country with this banal argument only to have it all reversed in say, 10 years. This was settled when the Supreme Court decided on Roe v. Wade. This was already decided. You don't have to have an abortion, but it is legal if you want one. You, Mr. and Mrs. Republican Party, are the biggest bunch of asses I can think of. You are the waste in this country. You are the "domestic terror" in this country; you and your "War on Women."
We should be working together to fix our national problems and you sit around happily causing more. Why? To keep people from seeing what you are really doing. You do it to make people angry and get them worked up about things other than the election. You cannot find true Presidential fault with Obama so you are going to scream "fire" in a theater so no one will stay and watch the film. Oh yes, we see you. We also know you are wrong. You are inept as a party and you try to hide that incompetence to lead with distractions, innuendo, and lies. That does not make you a superior person or party. That just makes you pathetic.
Yesterday, I registered as a Democrat because I would not want any Republican to believe I agreed with them. I don't want your Republican mail or calls. I have always tried to vote the candidate, not the party and have a particular distrust of people voting only a party. I feel no one who is unqualified should ride the coat tails of those who are. There may come a day when I see a Republican who has changed, who has higher ideals, who wants to put our country first. Right now, I don't see that. Right now, I don't think I ever again will see that. Any American, any political party, that would not choose to put Americans first is truly sad and un-American.
As a side note:
Look at the history of "Red" politics around the world. Look at the meaning of being "red." Why would any "American" political party want to be red? Isn't that what they used to call Communists back in the 50's and 60's? Really? We do not have to be "Red." We do not have to be a stalled Republican State. Move forward to the future Alabama.
Good luck Mr. Obama. You have 1 vote.
Friday, February 17, 2012
Happy Mardi Gras
It is February. It is 57 degrees outside with an expected high of mid to upper 60's. It is Winter, I believe. I just can't prove it by the weather. We pretty much missed Winter down here in the South for 2012. We have probably had less days under 40 than I can count on 1 hand. I love my cold weather, my fireplace, and being cozy. Okay, I admit that it has been nice not to need the heater or A/C running. Thank you for that at least, Mother Earth.
My husband is concerned his parade will be rained out (again). This always bums him out. I feel for him. Mardi Gras is his hobby. He loves the ride, the dance, and the festivities of Mardi Gras. He doesn't hunt, rarely fishes (I wish he'd fish - with ME), and other than puttering around in the yard or shop, he's always working. He actually enjoys throwing hundreds of dollars worth of "stuff" into the streets of Mobile for strangers to gather. I hope the weathermen are wrong. I hope it begins raining an hour after the Crewe of Columbus is safely tucked into their ball and it stops by noon on Saturday for all the organizations to have their parades.
You can ask almost anyone involved in Mardi Gras and they will tell you the ball is the "party," but they do it for the ride on the float or on the horse. It is the high they get from being the center of attention and spreading even a little superficial joy to people. No one is under any delusions. The riders know it is cheap junk (beads, bracelets, frisbees, cups, doubloons, moonpies, and those prized stuffed animals). The crowd also knows it is junk too. It is just mostly sparkly junk. The crowd loves the thrill of the catch. It isn't about keeping it. It is about obtaining it. Most people dole out their catches to the kids surrounding them whether they know them or not.
It is a time of camaraderie and fun. If you are like our family, you stake out a spot along the parade route. Some are better for families, some for teenagers, some (closer to bars) for young adults, and some close to hotels for visitors and maskers family and friends. You meet people you wouldn't never meet in your everyday life. You make friends and talk. Sometimes you make friends because your children beat you to it. You see these people almost everyday for 2 weeks, and then you don't see them again until the next year. This is because we are like Salmon and Sea Turtles. We love to return to "our spot." We get quite possessive over our spots along the parade route. We get there early just to make sure it is still there waiting for us.
I am hoping the Floral Parade, Knights of Mobile, The Order of Angels, and my husband's Mystics of Time all have beautiful and wonderful rides on Saturday without rain. He has waited all year for this as have many who do ride in all the organizations. It seems pointless and frivolous to many. There are many who complain there are better things to do with their money. But they do not see the sparkle in the eyes of the kids who love the fact they were picked out of a crowd of tens of thousands to receive a big fluffy, snugly Teddy Bear. Sure there are other views for many of the riders and yes, they talk about "that girl on such and such street....did you see her?" Those kinds of things always make my husband blush. I think that's sweet it still makes him blush. He's been doing this for 34 years now. You would think he would have seen it all. He does it for the kids and to be able to spread a little joy and happiness.
I know what he means. When I was a little girl and would go to the parades, if I caught something special I would keep it for years and I would always be able to tell you I got if from this float at this parade. I did not grow up as my kids did. I never knew anyone in parading organizations. I never had the luck of painting "Hey Bob...." on a sign and knowing Bob would recognize it and throw me something. My children have grown up in Mardi Gras. The huge float barns that were such a mystery to me are old hat to them. Those buildings that hold the floats still hold magic for me. I love to see them up close and admire the artistry it takes to put one together, much less 18 or 20! My kids always loved to get the coolest new throw straight from Dad - not tempting fate that they would miss the catch. It is normal for my kids to expect Mom and Dad to get the hotel room for the night of the parade. It just makes sense to be safer. You don't drink even a little and drive. Walking to the hotel just makes sense. You are tired, but the fresh air does revive you and if it is raining, there is usually a car waiting to drop you at the hotel for $10. It was a very smancy thing for me to learn to spend a night in a hotel when I live in town. Yes it costs money, but as I said before, my husband doesn't belong to a hunting club or have to pay for fishing gear so it is his choice.
Here I sit, blogging about it when I should be packing a bag. We will take our stuff and snacks and drinks to the hotel. We will be having a beautiful party tomorrow night. It really does make every girl feel like Cinderella, and what guy doesn't look good in White Tie and Tails! I'm always a little jealous that the husband gets to wear a costume and his hair can be messed up no one cares, but I have to look "pretty." I wouldn't have it any other way. Verna Dean, Verna, and Dean (the Dragons) may or may not ride through Mobile's streets tomorrow night, but we will have a most spectacular ball in their honor regardless. Happy Mardi Gras 2012. Le mardi gras, je me tourne 50 et je suis vraiment heureux à ce sujet!
My husband is concerned his parade will be rained out (again). This always bums him out. I feel for him. Mardi Gras is his hobby. He loves the ride, the dance, and the festivities of Mardi Gras. He doesn't hunt, rarely fishes (I wish he'd fish - with ME), and other than puttering around in the yard or shop, he's always working. He actually enjoys throwing hundreds of dollars worth of "stuff" into the streets of Mobile for strangers to gather. I hope the weathermen are wrong. I hope it begins raining an hour after the Crewe of Columbus is safely tucked into their ball and it stops by noon on Saturday for all the organizations to have their parades.
You can ask almost anyone involved in Mardi Gras and they will tell you the ball is the "party," but they do it for the ride on the float or on the horse. It is the high they get from being the center of attention and spreading even a little superficial joy to people. No one is under any delusions. The riders know it is cheap junk (beads, bracelets, frisbees, cups, doubloons, moonpies, and those prized stuffed animals). The crowd also knows it is junk too. It is just mostly sparkly junk. The crowd loves the thrill of the catch. It isn't about keeping it. It is about obtaining it. Most people dole out their catches to the kids surrounding them whether they know them or not.
It is a time of camaraderie and fun. If you are like our family, you stake out a spot along the parade route. Some are better for families, some for teenagers, some (closer to bars) for young adults, and some close to hotels for visitors and maskers family and friends. You meet people you wouldn't never meet in your everyday life. You make friends and talk. Sometimes you make friends because your children beat you to it. You see these people almost everyday for 2 weeks, and then you don't see them again until the next year. This is because we are like Salmon and Sea Turtles. We love to return to "our spot." We get quite possessive over our spots along the parade route. We get there early just to make sure it is still there waiting for us.
I am hoping the Floral Parade, Knights of Mobile, The Order of Angels, and my husband's Mystics of Time all have beautiful and wonderful rides on Saturday without rain. He has waited all year for this as have many who do ride in all the organizations. It seems pointless and frivolous to many. There are many who complain there are better things to do with their money. But they do not see the sparkle in the eyes of the kids who love the fact they were picked out of a crowd of tens of thousands to receive a big fluffy, snugly Teddy Bear. Sure there are other views for many of the riders and yes, they talk about "that girl on such and such street....did you see her?" Those kinds of things always make my husband blush. I think that's sweet it still makes him blush. He's been doing this for 34 years now. You would think he would have seen it all. He does it for the kids and to be able to spread a little joy and happiness.
I know what he means. When I was a little girl and would go to the parades, if I caught something special I would keep it for years and I would always be able to tell you I got if from this float at this parade. I did not grow up as my kids did. I never knew anyone in parading organizations. I never had the luck of painting "Hey Bob...." on a sign and knowing Bob would recognize it and throw me something. My children have grown up in Mardi Gras. The huge float barns that were such a mystery to me are old hat to them. Those buildings that hold the floats still hold magic for me. I love to see them up close and admire the artistry it takes to put one together, much less 18 or 20! My kids always loved to get the coolest new throw straight from Dad - not tempting fate that they would miss the catch. It is normal for my kids to expect Mom and Dad to get the hotel room for the night of the parade. It just makes sense to be safer. You don't drink even a little and drive. Walking to the hotel just makes sense. You are tired, but the fresh air does revive you and if it is raining, there is usually a car waiting to drop you at the hotel for $10. It was a very smancy thing for me to learn to spend a night in a hotel when I live in town. Yes it costs money, but as I said before, my husband doesn't belong to a hunting club or have to pay for fishing gear so it is his choice.
Here I sit, blogging about it when I should be packing a bag. We will take our stuff and snacks and drinks to the hotel. We will be having a beautiful party tomorrow night. It really does make every girl feel like Cinderella, and what guy doesn't look good in White Tie and Tails! I'm always a little jealous that the husband gets to wear a costume and his hair can be messed up no one cares, but I have to look "pretty." I wouldn't have it any other way. Verna Dean, Verna, and Dean (the Dragons) may or may not ride through Mobile's streets tomorrow night, but we will have a most spectacular ball in their honor regardless. Happy Mardi Gras 2012. Le mardi gras, je me tourne 50 et je suis vraiment heureux à ce sujet!
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
New Year 2012
Wow, here it is, 2012. I look around and see so much is so different than when I was a kid. I look at the world and think as bad as things are, there is so much about "right now" that is stinking cool! I was in a second grade class this week. We were in the middle of a Reading lesson on Fact and Opinion. We discussed that to be a fact, it has to be provable. I asked where would you go to find proof of a fact. Without missing a beat, several chimed in, "The Internet." I smiled. They are right of course.
I told them that when I was their age we had to use "encyclopedias"to prove facts and look up information. When I was their age, we had phones in our homes that still had cords from the handset to the phone and you had to stay close to the phone to talk on it. Then we talked about how today you can walk around in the yard on your house phone. I told them we never had cell phones until I was grown and we never had computers in our homes. Those were big, massive things that had their own buildings. They looked amazed and some laughed; rightly so, too. These children are growing up in such a charmed age. It is like the Renaissance Cubed.
I wonder about the trade offs we've made. Sure we have such technology with even school-aged children having their own cell phones and iPads. We have (most of us) more than one computer in our home. Heck! Most of us carry a computer in our pocket or purse (Smartphones). We can store all the photo's, music, files, and such on a tiny little memory card and keep it with us always in a flash drive (ever ready to view or add to the fold). If we don't know how to cook something, a recipe is a click away. We can order groceries online and have someone else pick up and deliver them. Although they can still offer some good services, we can plan, execute, and pay for our vacations without ever speaking to a Travel Agent. We can rent cars, get prescriptions, buy just about anything or service we need online and never have to interact with other humans. This is what I mean by trade offs.
How good is it when we live in our own little world without the benefit of others? We get to the point where we dwell on ourselves. Now days we have more diagnosed depression and I think it is because we are so tuned in on us. We don't learn about the lady that checks our groceries and her sick husband. We don't know about the man who lives next door and the sadness in his life, because we don't have to. We never stop to think how lucky we are that we don't have their problems, because we don't know about their problems. What is more: we are becoming a society that does not care about their problems. We are growing more and more selfish every generation.
We keep our children inside 90% of the time they are home because it is either not safe for them to be alone and playing out of doors; or we don't want to sit outside and watch them play. We buy them bicycles they don't ride because it isn't safe to be out riding around the block. They sit inside and play video games and people complain because they are not skinny. When I was a child I knew everywhere around my house within 6 blocks in any direction. I got lost once and no more. We have to teach kids map skills now because they never leave their yard. They have no sense of direction. I had friends that lived across the street and over a mile away. I rode my bicycle to their homes and my Mama knew I was okay. She would tell me to call when I got there so she wouldn't worry. Mostly she was worried about traffic, not creepy people. I walked over a mile to go to the 7-11 store just to buy candy or a coke with my allowance.
While I learned a bit about money in school, I really learned how to plan for what I wanted to buy on my own. I could count it out and know if I had what I needed. Time, I learned about that too. I knew how to judge approximate time by daylight and to read a clock well because me being home when I was supposed to be kept me out of trouble and who wants to miss dinner? Now they have to be taught that at school as well.
If I fell and hurt myself on my bike, a kind person would always help me up, make sure I was okay and I never had to worry if they were dangerous. I learned to read and write because I had teachers that showed me what a world it opened up to me. It wasn't because I was tested at every turn. We had Chapter and Unit Tests on Grammar, or Language as it was called, on Science, Math, History/Social Studies. We never had "Reading Tests" per say, and my comprehension is pretty good. I think making it meaningful to the class, to me, helped me learn better. More tests does not mean more learning, it never did.
I believe in Spelling being an important skill. I do not think we should always rely on that red squiggly line to help us out. It may not know what form of wear, or ware, or we're, or where we need to use. I think while we do type a lot, we should still have good, neat, legible handwriting (manuscript and cursive) to show we are not without civility. Little things do matter. I believe when we teach History, we should teach the what and the why and not strive so hard to force the whens. I believe Science should always begin with wonder and end with more of the same. Give a child a reason to believe that there is more to discover or they will feel they have nothing to offer. Reading should be personal. If I only read to score points to make you look good, I am getting nothing from it. I will cease to do it as soon as I am allowed to. I see that with many adults who NEVER read anything more than a newspaper after they graduate and do not have to. This is sad. I always feel they miss so much by not reading books. Make it mine, then I will hunt for more to read.
Yes, these children of today live in a wonderful technologically advanced age. I think they have lost the magic of childhood in many ways. They have lost the hours in the yard, playing in ditches and wooded lots pretending and exploring. In school they are taught in ways they hate, lessons they could care less about. They are tested until they are exhausted and still the government is not pleased with anyone's results. I sort of feel sorry for these children of today with their iPads, Playstations, Wiis, TV's in each room, and air-conditioned bubbles they live in. I miss my old corded wall phone and my wonderful hours playing in my neighborhood; just me, some friends and our dreams.
I told them that when I was their age we had to use "encyclopedias"to prove facts and look up information. When I was their age, we had phones in our homes that still had cords from the handset to the phone and you had to stay close to the phone to talk on it. Then we talked about how today you can walk around in the yard on your house phone. I told them we never had cell phones until I was grown and we never had computers in our homes. Those were big, massive things that had their own buildings. They looked amazed and some laughed; rightly so, too. These children are growing up in such a charmed age. It is like the Renaissance Cubed.
I wonder about the trade offs we've made. Sure we have such technology with even school-aged children having their own cell phones and iPads. We have (most of us) more than one computer in our home. Heck! Most of us carry a computer in our pocket or purse (Smartphones). We can store all the photo's, music, files, and such on a tiny little memory card and keep it with us always in a flash drive (ever ready to view or add to the fold). If we don't know how to cook something, a recipe is a click away. We can order groceries online and have someone else pick up and deliver them. Although they can still offer some good services, we can plan, execute, and pay for our vacations without ever speaking to a Travel Agent. We can rent cars, get prescriptions, buy just about anything or service we need online and never have to interact with other humans. This is what I mean by trade offs.
How good is it when we live in our own little world without the benefit of others? We get to the point where we dwell on ourselves. Now days we have more diagnosed depression and I think it is because we are so tuned in on us. We don't learn about the lady that checks our groceries and her sick husband. We don't know about the man who lives next door and the sadness in his life, because we don't have to. We never stop to think how lucky we are that we don't have their problems, because we don't know about their problems. What is more: we are becoming a society that does not care about their problems. We are growing more and more selfish every generation.
We keep our children inside 90% of the time they are home because it is either not safe for them to be alone and playing out of doors; or we don't want to sit outside and watch them play. We buy them bicycles they don't ride because it isn't safe to be out riding around the block. They sit inside and play video games and people complain because they are not skinny. When I was a child I knew everywhere around my house within 6 blocks in any direction. I got lost once and no more. We have to teach kids map skills now because they never leave their yard. They have no sense of direction. I had friends that lived across the street and over a mile away. I rode my bicycle to their homes and my Mama knew I was okay. She would tell me to call when I got there so she wouldn't worry. Mostly she was worried about traffic, not creepy people. I walked over a mile to go to the 7-11 store just to buy candy or a coke with my allowance.
While I learned a bit about money in school, I really learned how to plan for what I wanted to buy on my own. I could count it out and know if I had what I needed. Time, I learned about that too. I knew how to judge approximate time by daylight and to read a clock well because me being home when I was supposed to be kept me out of trouble and who wants to miss dinner? Now they have to be taught that at school as well.
If I fell and hurt myself on my bike, a kind person would always help me up, make sure I was okay and I never had to worry if they were dangerous. I learned to read and write because I had teachers that showed me what a world it opened up to me. It wasn't because I was tested at every turn. We had Chapter and Unit Tests on Grammar, or Language as it was called, on Science, Math, History/Social Studies. We never had "Reading Tests" per say, and my comprehension is pretty good. I think making it meaningful to the class, to me, helped me learn better. More tests does not mean more learning, it never did.
I believe in Spelling being an important skill. I do not think we should always rely on that red squiggly line to help us out. It may not know what form of wear, or ware, or we're, or where we need to use. I think while we do type a lot, we should still have good, neat, legible handwriting (manuscript and cursive) to show we are not without civility. Little things do matter. I believe when we teach History, we should teach the what and the why and not strive so hard to force the whens. I believe Science should always begin with wonder and end with more of the same. Give a child a reason to believe that there is more to discover or they will feel they have nothing to offer. Reading should be personal. If I only read to score points to make you look good, I am getting nothing from it. I will cease to do it as soon as I am allowed to. I see that with many adults who NEVER read anything more than a newspaper after they graduate and do not have to. This is sad. I always feel they miss so much by not reading books. Make it mine, then I will hunt for more to read.
Yes, these children of today live in a wonderful technologically advanced age. I think they have lost the magic of childhood in many ways. They have lost the hours in the yard, playing in ditches and wooded lots pretending and exploring. In school they are taught in ways they hate, lessons they could care less about. They are tested until they are exhausted and still the government is not pleased with anyone's results. I sort of feel sorry for these children of today with their iPads, Playstations, Wiis, TV's in each room, and air-conditioned bubbles they live in. I miss my old corded wall phone and my wonderful hours playing in my neighborhood; just me, some friends and our dreams.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Occupy--What A Word!
So much has happened since I last wrote. The American Jobs Act got screwed over by the Republican party. Like the sticker says: Republicans: Keeping millions out of work to put one man out of a job.
Qaddafi is dead. Mubarak might be soon. Both those men lived long enough to see their worlds change; their countries and their people change. And thank you Mr. Dylan: Yes, times they are again, a-changin', and not for the better. Amazing what I see in the streets of this country this week. Pay attention people. Your government is showing its true colors and it ain't pretty at all. History is being made.
Following protests in Africa and Europe, there is now a movement in the United States. This has been going on since September in NYC. It is called Occupy Wall Street. It is spreading like wildfire across this country. It is amazing. It is a bunch of people who are frankly quite tired of being the pissing pot for the rich 1% of the United States. OWS is the 99% of the people who are NOT the uber-rich, all powerful, corporate/banking gurus of the 21st century. No, that is the 1%. OWS consists of the everyman and everywoman. The ones who did all the things right: They went to high school and got into college, chose an appropriate career path and graduated from college. They now, like myself, cannot find a job. Most of the time it works like this: If you can find an opening in your field (Mine is Education and our budgets have been slashed to the marrow so you know jobs for teachers are hard to come by.) you are up against a ton of others who are just as good as you and want the job and need the job just as much. When you apply for positions out of your field you are quickly reminded that you are "over qualified" for the job you are applying for. This is HR speak for we are not going to hire you because we know you'll leave as soon as you can be hired in your field. Funny. I have never met anyone over qualified to pay bills or eat - just to work. People are fed up. We are tired of the corporations getting all the tax breaks and still sending viable employment to other (usually Third World) countries with no standards of employment and/or safety, and all the while making record profits for their share holders. We are tired of people saying we should quit complaining and get a job. Really? How brain damaged are you? We are tired of conservatives acting like what we want is for the Wall Street Bankers to open their windows and toss down cash to the masses. That is crap! What I want (and I am pretty sure most of the others involved want) is a job that can support me and allow me to be able to pay my bills. I don't want out of my bills, I just want to be able to pay them.
My bills include a car payment's worth (a nice car, mind you) of student loan payments. I'm no different than anyone - if they want to forgive my debt, I'm there and all for it; I will settle for a teaching job. While they are at it, they can work on credit card debt forgiveness up to, say, $5,000 per household. How about this one: Anyone that is even 1 month behind on their mortgage payments have all delinquent payments tacked on to the end of the loan plus 3 months. This way families might be able to dig themselves out of the financial hole unemployment and recession has hit them with. The banks don't lose the money - it is only deferred for a few months. That is a few months where a family might can actually get caught up on their bills. And sorry, Mr. President: I don't think "incentives" to get businesses to hire is working so how about penalties if they don't. How about amending some trade agreements while you're at it. If you are a United States company/corporation and you want to sell something in the United States you have to either make it here or pay through the a$$ to bring it into this country to be sold. Tax breaks only for companies that support Americans by giving them PERMANENT FULL TIME JOBS WITH USABLE AND AFFORDABLE BENEFITS! And, if the company is a foreign company, they can get a tax break also by having manufacturing inside the United States' borders and hiring U. S. citizens. This is a no-brainer people!
I thank goodness my husband can work, but in a job he has held for over 20 years, he has lost money for the last five years. His earnings have been stable, but our insurance has increased every year in cost and every year it has covered less and less. This upcoming year we have a multi-thousand dollar deductible that has to be met in total before the insurance company covers their 80%. No, this does not include medications. That is separate with its own deductible. This insurance costs us over $400 a month. That means that in one year we will pay $4,800.00 plus our "deductible" of several thousand dollars. It is insane. Kill all the lawyers? Heck no, get rid of the insurance companies first. It will cost us major money in 2012. I have some health issues. I have to see 2 different doctors several times a year to take care of these issues and also have lab work performed on a regular basis. I have a couple of other doctors I see a couple of times a year. I guess I won't be seeing anyone at all unless they won't refill my medication or I am truly sick; and I will go into debt to see them at all. I won't be able to afford to go regularly. Just look at an office visit, a chest x-ray, and some plain labwork. Each visit will cost over $300 that I just don't have. I guess the plan is that if you NEVER go to the doctor, they win (because you are paying them $4,800 a year) and if you die, well they win, too (they don't have to pay anything). The plan stinks. We have no recourse. It is all we have available. I guess if I got a job, we could maybe use my insurance but that doesn't seem likely. My career says I have to have my job for 3 consecutive years before it is stable. I am a teacher. I have to work for 3 consecutive years before I have tenure and a guaranteed job somewhere in this county. I have plenty of friends that worked last year and this year, they are subbing occasionally just like me. It is like this all over the country (Chicago, NYC, San Francisco, St. Louis, Orlando, Houston, etc.). So that means if I get a job and keep it for three years, I still have to wait for that fourth year before switching us to my insurance. Gee, I hope we stay well for a good long time.
Shame on the government flunkies in the United States with corporate and banking fingers holding on to their shoulders and their wallets. Shame on you. Occupy Wall Street has my support. I am one of the 99%. I have no doubts about that. All it takes is a look at my bank account and I know for sure I am not one of the 1% - not even close. Our way of life wasn't broken and you jerks fixed it anyway. You had no right! Now it IS broken and you refuse to lift a finger to help us. Thomas Jefferson said: "All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." I refuse to remain silent any longer. I refuse to allow tyranny to prevail. GIVE ME MY COUNTRY BACK. It is my American Dream, too! How dare you steal it from me! I will not forgive. I will not forget. I will actively campaign and vote against you and everyone who makes a conscious choice to vote against legislation that can improve the current crisis in our homeland.
Now, this week, we see city leaders inside this country insisting their police departments rid their streets and parks and parking lots of Occupy members. How dare they! American citizens have rights. This is not a police state and Oakland, no matter how you think you can sugar coat it: The fact is your police showed up in RIOT gear to a peaceful protest. Your police intentionally instigated violence and then your police fired tear gas canisters and rubber bullets directly into a crowd of people without concern for citizen safety. Oakland, your police injured citizens who were doing nothing more than exercising their civil rights and they did it intentionally and without remorse. How dare you! Atlanta is insisting people leave and threatening them with violence if they don't. This is happening all over in several cities. Hello!!! You are violating our rights as citizens of the United States of America. How dare you! What is so completely ironic is that those same city leaders do not realize they are the little people too. They are part of the 99% as well. They are part of the 99% simply because they are not part of the 1%. They only do the dirty work of the 1%. When the 1% has no use for them any longer they will toss them aside like a week old newspaper. Wake up. We are the 99%. We love what our country is supposed to be. We will fight for our country against the tyranny of the 1%. You, taught us not to tolerate terrorists and we see the 1% as the biggest terrorist threat to America since England. We now know and we no longer will be kept silent. You made this mess now clean it up.
Qaddafi is dead. Mubarak might be soon. Both those men lived long enough to see their worlds change; their countries and their people change. And thank you Mr. Dylan: Yes, times they are again, a-changin', and not for the better. Amazing what I see in the streets of this country this week. Pay attention people. Your government is showing its true colors and it ain't pretty at all. History is being made.
Following protests in Africa and Europe, there is now a movement in the United States. This has been going on since September in NYC. It is called Occupy Wall Street. It is spreading like wildfire across this country. It is amazing. It is a bunch of people who are frankly quite tired of being the pissing pot for the rich 1% of the United States. OWS is the 99% of the people who are NOT the uber-rich, all powerful, corporate/banking gurus of the 21st century. No, that is the 1%. OWS consists of the everyman and everywoman. The ones who did all the things right: They went to high school and got into college, chose an appropriate career path and graduated from college. They now, like myself, cannot find a job. Most of the time it works like this: If you can find an opening in your field (Mine is Education and our budgets have been slashed to the marrow so you know jobs for teachers are hard to come by.) you are up against a ton of others who are just as good as you and want the job and need the job just as much. When you apply for positions out of your field you are quickly reminded that you are "over qualified" for the job you are applying for. This is HR speak for we are not going to hire you because we know you'll leave as soon as you can be hired in your field. Funny. I have never met anyone over qualified to pay bills or eat - just to work. People are fed up. We are tired of the corporations getting all the tax breaks and still sending viable employment to other (usually Third World) countries with no standards of employment and/or safety, and all the while making record profits for their share holders. We are tired of people saying we should quit complaining and get a job. Really? How brain damaged are you? We are tired of conservatives acting like what we want is for the Wall Street Bankers to open their windows and toss down cash to the masses. That is crap! What I want (and I am pretty sure most of the others involved want) is a job that can support me and allow me to be able to pay my bills. I don't want out of my bills, I just want to be able to pay them.
My bills include a car payment's worth (a nice car, mind you) of student loan payments. I'm no different than anyone - if they want to forgive my debt, I'm there and all for it; I will settle for a teaching job. While they are at it, they can work on credit card debt forgiveness up to, say, $5,000 per household. How about this one: Anyone that is even 1 month behind on their mortgage payments have all delinquent payments tacked on to the end of the loan plus 3 months. This way families might be able to dig themselves out of the financial hole unemployment and recession has hit them with. The banks don't lose the money - it is only deferred for a few months. That is a few months where a family might can actually get caught up on their bills. And sorry, Mr. President: I don't think "incentives" to get businesses to hire is working so how about penalties if they don't. How about amending some trade agreements while you're at it. If you are a United States company/corporation and you want to sell something in the United States you have to either make it here or pay through the a$$ to bring it into this country to be sold. Tax breaks only for companies that support Americans by giving them PERMANENT FULL TIME JOBS WITH USABLE AND AFFORDABLE BENEFITS! And, if the company is a foreign company, they can get a tax break also by having manufacturing inside the United States' borders and hiring U. S. citizens. This is a no-brainer people!
I thank goodness my husband can work, but in a job he has held for over 20 years, he has lost money for the last five years. His earnings have been stable, but our insurance has increased every year in cost and every year it has covered less and less. This upcoming year we have a multi-thousand dollar deductible that has to be met in total before the insurance company covers their 80%. No, this does not include medications. That is separate with its own deductible. This insurance costs us over $400 a month. That means that in one year we will pay $4,800.00 plus our "deductible" of several thousand dollars. It is insane. Kill all the lawyers? Heck no, get rid of the insurance companies first. It will cost us major money in 2012. I have some health issues. I have to see 2 different doctors several times a year to take care of these issues and also have lab work performed on a regular basis. I have a couple of other doctors I see a couple of times a year. I guess I won't be seeing anyone at all unless they won't refill my medication or I am truly sick; and I will go into debt to see them at all. I won't be able to afford to go regularly. Just look at an office visit, a chest x-ray, and some plain labwork. Each visit will cost over $300 that I just don't have. I guess the plan is that if you NEVER go to the doctor, they win (because you are paying them $4,800 a year) and if you die, well they win, too (they don't have to pay anything). The plan stinks. We have no recourse. It is all we have available. I guess if I got a job, we could maybe use my insurance but that doesn't seem likely. My career says I have to have my job for 3 consecutive years before it is stable. I am a teacher. I have to work for 3 consecutive years before I have tenure and a guaranteed job somewhere in this county. I have plenty of friends that worked last year and this year, they are subbing occasionally just like me. It is like this all over the country (Chicago, NYC, San Francisco, St. Louis, Orlando, Houston, etc.). So that means if I get a job and keep it for three years, I still have to wait for that fourth year before switching us to my insurance. Gee, I hope we stay well for a good long time.
Shame on the government flunkies in the United States with corporate and banking fingers holding on to their shoulders and their wallets. Shame on you. Occupy Wall Street has my support. I am one of the 99%. I have no doubts about that. All it takes is a look at my bank account and I know for sure I am not one of the 1% - not even close. Our way of life wasn't broken and you jerks fixed it anyway. You had no right! Now it IS broken and you refuse to lift a finger to help us. Thomas Jefferson said: "All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." I refuse to remain silent any longer. I refuse to allow tyranny to prevail. GIVE ME MY COUNTRY BACK. It is my American Dream, too! How dare you steal it from me! I will not forgive. I will not forget. I will actively campaign and vote against you and everyone who makes a conscious choice to vote against legislation that can improve the current crisis in our homeland.
Now, this week, we see city leaders inside this country insisting their police departments rid their streets and parks and parking lots of Occupy members. How dare they! American citizens have rights. This is not a police state and Oakland, no matter how you think you can sugar coat it: The fact is your police showed up in RIOT gear to a peaceful protest. Your police intentionally instigated violence and then your police fired tear gas canisters and rubber bullets directly into a crowd of people without concern for citizen safety. Oakland, your police injured citizens who were doing nothing more than exercising their civil rights and they did it intentionally and without remorse. How dare you! Atlanta is insisting people leave and threatening them with violence if they don't. This is happening all over in several cities. Hello!!! You are violating our rights as citizens of the United States of America. How dare you! What is so completely ironic is that those same city leaders do not realize they are the little people too. They are part of the 99% as well. They are part of the 99% simply because they are not part of the 1%. They only do the dirty work of the 1%. When the 1% has no use for them any longer they will toss them aside like a week old newspaper. Wake up. We are the 99%. We love what our country is supposed to be. We will fight for our country against the tyranny of the 1%. You, taught us not to tolerate terrorists and we see the 1% as the biggest terrorist threat to America since England. We now know and we no longer will be kept silent. You made this mess now clean it up.
Monday, September 12, 2011
September 2011, Presidential Speech
I listened to the President the other night. I have read and heard the many comments about his plan for jobs. People are so mean. I think his ideas are good. His first move in improving Education in this country should be restoring the Education budget with emphasis on using the funding for HIRING TEACHERS, not equipment, not buildings, not software, not administrative personnel, and not paraprofessional aides. While it is true all schools need all of these to function, they do not need anything more than they need teachers. You must have someone who needs to learn (students) and someone who can teach those who need to learn (teachers). All the other things are designed to make school better and the job of the teacher easier.
I heard what he said about roads and bridges. Fixing these are not just what we should do for the economy, it is about safety. While I feel that asphalt has played the lesser known, but nonetheless highly responsible role for global warming, it is better (if we must have it) to have it placed safely for the people who ride on it daily. Bridges have to be safe. We have seen what happens when they are not. We must have better airports and flight systems. They must be safe and flights must not be crowding the airspace. How we will do this I do not know. People all want to go to the same place at the same time, due to convenience. If people have business in Chicago, they don't want to land in Bloomington and drive in. We have become believers of "Time is Money" and that is how we have designed our world - to save us time, thereby saving us money. With this "Age of Technology," is it still important to have our businesses in major cities? I don't know. Maybe giving a tax break to the company who decides it is okay to move 75 or 100 miles away from a major city base would encourage a spread that would take the pressure off major airports. Maybe then smaller airports would be utilized at times. Maybe the answer lies in just not routing every flight through a major center. I live in Mobile. Why do I have to fly to Dallas/Ft. Worth or Atlanta to get a flight to Orlando or Birmingham? Just a thought....
I feel he is right about the trade agreements. I sent him a letter expressing just this thought. We cannot continue to have American companies manufacture in foreign countries to escape fees, regulations, and unions while American families go without jobs. While we do understand the CEO's and Board's desire for money, the salaries they are paying should be funding American households, not Indian, Mexican, or Chinese ones. The last time I looked, other countries do not pay income tax to the United States. No wonder our country is losing money left and right. Bring back manufacturing to the inside of our borders. Put Americans back to work in factories making money and paying state and federal taxes. Hmm? What a concept! If I can think of it, it must not be hard.
I know there will be many congress members and senators who feel they will vote against this plan simply because it was written by our President. Why? Because he is Democratic and/or because they don't like him. What they need to remember is that the "bail out" of the 'big boys' did not work. It was never designed to and it was initiated by another party's administration. We all said, "why not bail out us, the little guy?" Well people, this is the best way and probably the only way we will get our government to do so.
Sign the damn act. Act like we are one country and get behind our leader. He is our leader right now and no amount of arguing by the Legislature will change that. If our neighborhood had a natural disaster and a school, hospital, or our only store were destroyed, we would work together to rebuild it whether we liked each other or not. We would do this because it is to the benefit of all. Well, one hell of a natural disaster of sorts has hit our country in the form of a severely faltering economy. We can fix this by restoring jobs to American citizens. We do this by working together to rescind current foreign trade agreements and bring manufacturing back inside our borders. We do this by agreeing with the plan. It is not about "who" came up with it. It is about "We The People" and the future of our country, The United States of America.
I heard what he said about roads and bridges. Fixing these are not just what we should do for the economy, it is about safety. While I feel that asphalt has played the lesser known, but nonetheless highly responsible role for global warming, it is better (if we must have it) to have it placed safely for the people who ride on it daily. Bridges have to be safe. We have seen what happens when they are not. We must have better airports and flight systems. They must be safe and flights must not be crowding the airspace. How we will do this I do not know. People all want to go to the same place at the same time, due to convenience. If people have business in Chicago, they don't want to land in Bloomington and drive in. We have become believers of "Time is Money" and that is how we have designed our world - to save us time, thereby saving us money. With this "Age of Technology," is it still important to have our businesses in major cities? I don't know. Maybe giving a tax break to the company who decides it is okay to move 75 or 100 miles away from a major city base would encourage a spread that would take the pressure off major airports. Maybe then smaller airports would be utilized at times. Maybe the answer lies in just not routing every flight through a major center. I live in Mobile. Why do I have to fly to Dallas/Ft. Worth or Atlanta to get a flight to Orlando or Birmingham? Just a thought....
I feel he is right about the trade agreements. I sent him a letter expressing just this thought. We cannot continue to have American companies manufacture in foreign countries to escape fees, regulations, and unions while American families go without jobs. While we do understand the CEO's and Board's desire for money, the salaries they are paying should be funding American households, not Indian, Mexican, or Chinese ones. The last time I looked, other countries do not pay income tax to the United States. No wonder our country is losing money left and right. Bring back manufacturing to the inside of our borders. Put Americans back to work in factories making money and paying state and federal taxes. Hmm? What a concept! If I can think of it, it must not be hard.
I know there will be many congress members and senators who feel they will vote against this plan simply because it was written by our President. Why? Because he is Democratic and/or because they don't like him. What they need to remember is that the "bail out" of the 'big boys' did not work. It was never designed to and it was initiated by another party's administration. We all said, "why not bail out us, the little guy?" Well people, this is the best way and probably the only way we will get our government to do so.
Sign the damn act. Act like we are one country and get behind our leader. He is our leader right now and no amount of arguing by the Legislature will change that. If our neighborhood had a natural disaster and a school, hospital, or our only store were destroyed, we would work together to rebuild it whether we liked each other or not. We would do this because it is to the benefit of all. Well, one hell of a natural disaster of sorts has hit our country in the form of a severely faltering economy. We can fix this by restoring jobs to American citizens. We do this by working together to rescind current foreign trade agreements and bring manufacturing back inside our borders. We do this by agreeing with the plan. It is not about "who" came up with it. It is about "We The People" and the future of our country, The United States of America.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Depressed and When Will The Government Free Up Education Funds So I Can Get a Job?
I cannot believe how hard it is to find a job. I ask myself: "Are you doing all you can? Should you be trying something new?" I don't know. I thought I was trying something new when I went into Education. Obviously the field is not wanting people as much as they said they were. There are way too many of us without full time teaching jobs for them to be too desperate for teachers. If we choose to go into another field to have work, we risk no one knowing us and making it even harder to find work as a teacher. Some of us have even been offered work at schools not as teachers. I guess the principals could be trying to be helpful. I think maybe they are trying to have an extra teacher or two on staff "just in case" for 20K a year less. Sort of insulting is what it really is. I am a teacher. I went to school and paid for my tuition in loans that must be repaid. I was not lucky enough to get any "free" money from the government to go to school. I need a full time job in my profession!
I went to an interview today for a temporary (or interim) teaching job for 1st Grade. It seemed like everything was going well and then poof! I got the distinct feeling it went South (and not in the good way). I don't know why. I don't know where it went wrong. I have replayed it over and over and I can't figure it out. Maybe tomorrow I will be able to see it. Going to sleep now and very sad.
Nope. Next day and still confused and depressed...
Still sad and cannot understand why I am having trouble unless it has to do with a) my age, or. . . b) . . . . my age. Of course it is illegal to discriminate against someone because of their age so there is nothing they would say to me, but it seems like whenever it comes around to mentioning family and the fact that I have "grandchildren" (something you would think could actually be a positive thing) the conversation goes wonky and trails away. Same thing happens if anyone asks about why I would want to leave nursing, or if I mention I have had cancer. Sorry folks, it is true. I survived when the odds were against me and I am not about to apologize to anyone because of it.
I have resolved therefore that the next time I have an interview for a full time or interim position I will, a) not mention the fact I have a family, b) not ever mention the fact I had a career prior to teaching (if they bring it up that damned ADN, I will say, "Yes I was a nurse. It is a noble and caring profession. I found myself able to stay at home and raise my daughter so I did. When she was in high school I went back to college to become what I always wanted to be, was always called to be: a teacher."), and I will never, never, never mention I was sick with cancer. They don't want to know I survived. They look at me like I am some sort of freak because I did not die. Screw them. They don't deserve to know. It is my and my family’s miracle, not theirs. It is not their business. They cannot ask and I will not tell. I'm tired of crap beyond my control being held against me. I am no more likely to die tomorrow than the next person.
Wow! I'm so tired of the hypocrisy of the schools. I'm good enough to sub for you, to fill in when your 30 year old teacher has to stay home with her sick kid, her sick mother, or her sick husband, or her sick dog, but I am not good enough to work in your school in my own classroom. My parents are both dead, my husband's are too, so I won't have to take leave to care for them or go to their funerals. My children are grown so they pretty much can deal with the world on their own with minimal (they like it that way) influence from me. My husband has been working his ass off for years and would love it if I had a full time job so he could actually take some of that 5 weeks’ vacation he has every year and do some home projects. One day we will get around to a vacation - just the two of us. But that will be a summer or spring break type of thing.
I'm a good teacher. I can teach children how to read, how to do math, how to explore their world and understand their community and their history. I can teach them manners they will be proud to display for their parents. I can teach them not just what we do, but why we do it. It matters people - I want to know why I have to walk down the right side of the hall. They deserve no less. I am a good teacher. I want a chance to prove it. I want to teach in my own classroom of imperfect young people and help them to become the best people they can be. I want the chance to enrich their lives at least as much as they enrich mine.
I did it right. I went to school to get my degree. I could have subbed without ever going back to school and made $60 a day. You know anyone's Mama can sub if they have at least a GED and get paid $60 a day. I don't make but $90 a day for substituting now (definitely not worth what a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education cost me). I could have been a paraprofessional or "classroom aide" without ever going back to college (I had an Associate’s Degree and that is all it takes) and made $15,000 a year (worked my behind off for it for sure). Teaching pay here only begins at 36K a year. I'm sure I could have gotten a degree in something else that pays better, accounting or something. I am good with math and numbers. What I am trying to get across is I'm not in teaching for the money. I'm not in it for the summers. I'm not in it because I was a "bored housewife" wanting a diversion and thumbed noses to everyone who thinks so.
I became a teacher simply because I want to make a difference. Coming close to dying gets you understanding what matters in the world. I want to be the person a child remembers helped him or her understand a concept they struggled with. Something that when they finally did get it, helped them make a little more sense of their world. I'm in Education, for the children who need people that give a damn whether they learn to read, write, or understand the world and how it works. I am a teacher because I want to make a difference in the lives of children. Children are the only future we have. We have to teach them well. We have to teach them how to make a difference in their world. I just want the chance to do that. I don’t think that is too much to ask. Would somebody here please give me a chance?
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