An encounter with an old... person I guess.

Sophomore year of high-school I had a teacher that well... didn't much like me. She felt that her position as a teacher made her better than the average person, and I did everything I could to impress on her that that wasn't the case. I never actually broke the rules. I was far more subtle in my approach. I hadn't thought about any of this in years, but it is on my mind because I ran into her. Was shocking to find out she was still alive. She was very near retirement age when I had the misfortune of her class.

I was at a store looking for a good bargain. While looking I heard a very old sounding voice saying "Is that you?". Turning around I saw a very old women, hunched from age, I had no idea who this was. "Um.. who are you?" was all I could respond. There was some back and forth, that lead to her being offended that I didn't remember someone I had driven to retire. She said through look of rage that "I loved teaching, and intended to keep teaching after reaching retirement age, but after you, I only taught for one more year. You made me hate every second in the classroom." She went on more, but that was the important bit. She had clearly spent a lot of time focusing on me as the source of all of her problems, wonder how much was true, and how much was just in her head. Shame I don't have a recording of it.

Once she was done, I had only one response. "Then it would seem I did a favor for all the students you didn't have a chance to teach". She was fighting back tears. It had meant so much to her to tell me off, and it meant nothing to me.

I never did anything to her that was actually mean. All I ever did was treat her as a equal. I think to her the idea that a student would not see her as better was offensive. Maybe she was just from an earlier time, or maybe she hadn't been taken down a peg in years. I will admit, I am a little happy to know I won this one. Took almost two decades find out, but still nice.

A way to help teachers.

Before we get started on this subject I want to be clear on a few subjects. First, I was a good student school, and was near to the top of my class. Second, any academic success I ever had was in spite of the educators around me and never because of them in any measure. Thirdly, I realize their may infact exist educators that actually help students, never witnessed it myself, but I concede  the possibly. Forth, I am only speaking about K-12 education. Having said all of that...



Education in the USA has been poisoned. That poison is the teachers we hire to teach. They are not heroes. On average, they spend more time to spread the myth that they are heroes than actually teaching.  They have turned school days in to psychological endurance tests for children, where torture is sadly not too strong a word to describe the situation.

Teacher for the most part spend their time torturing children and lamenting the series of life choices that made them become teachers. The vast majority of them failed at whatever their ambition was, and our now stuck in a second choice they hate. They hate themselves for what they have become and take it out of the child, the poor children.

Now there is good news, most teachers spend a lot of time thinking about suicide. The problem is most of them are far too cowardly to go through with it. The answer is so simple, we just need to give them that extra push they need.

So to every teacher out there, do it, end it once and for all. There are many ways to do it, painless and painful, depending on your level of self hatred. The students will be better off, and so will virtually everyone that is in your life. As a bonus, you will never have to wake up earlier to see the children you so hate. Everybody wins.

Strange Thing Happened

I was at Target, doing my mother's shopping for her as she just had back surgery. As I go through the store, I notice a guy following me, and staring me down. The guy doing it is about my age, average build, nothing really distinctive about him. So after several he does this on several different aisle I ask him "You need something buddy?". He looks at me with obvious anger and says "You don't even remember me!". Look him over, "There a reason I should?". Now is when the story get a little strange as he claims that I "assaulted" him in "computer class". This is strange as last time I was in a "computer class" was close to three decades ago in high school. He goes on to say he had to transfer schools over what happened, and demands I apologize for ruining him life. Instead, I tell tell to "Grow up, fuck off, and don't bother me. Or just the last two".

That happened earlier this week. I don't think the guy was crazy. As I have thought about it, and I think I know the indecent he was referring too. It was during my freshman year, and yes was in a "computer class". It was early in the school year, either September of early October, and another student was making a great deal of noise. I asked him (nicely) to please quiet down. He got up, shoved me and said "make me". I didn't, I asked him agian to to lower his volume, so he pushed me again. At that point I hit him, and again, and then slammed him medium hard in to the ground. The teacher broke it up. He tried to get her to believe I was in the wrong, she pointed out that he had attacked first, and that I had only defended myself. He went back to his seat in tears. The teacher kept me with her, I assumed to yell at me, but was wrong. She told me he got what deserved, and said it was smart that I hadn't hit him in the face. This was a very minor event to me, and till this week hadn't thought about it at all. Should be noted, that she was the first teacher I ever had any respect for.

I am not sure why it stuck with this other guy so much. I think perhaps it was his first and maybe only experience with violence. I don't know if I should envy or pity that. Well sorry this isn't funny, but I felt the need to share it somewhere, and this is my outlet.