I was assigned to ready Mr. John T. Spencer. He is a middle school teacher in Phoenix, Arizona. Mr. Spencer is the kind of teacher who likes to be hands on with his students. He blogs all the time and is never afraid to say what he is thinking at the time.
Comment # 1
A Story from Four Years Ago
I stood at the Wal-Mart painting area trying to express my anger through pantomime. It had been, at this point, twenty-five minutes. I had approached two associates (a name typically reserved for attorneys) and asked politely if I could get some service, because it was a teacher work day and my students would be expecting to have some paint for our project and so I'd be quite pleased if someone would just pull out a few gallons and do that magical color dripping ritual that turns the bland white gallons into the origins of art.
Each associate told me that they'd send someone my way and now at forty minutes I am pacing, throwing my hands in the air, doing an attention-getting dancing screaming nonverbally "Get me some effing paint if you know what's best for you."
They didn't know what was best for them.
So, I began rearranging the paint brushes, first taking whole rows and placing them in the wrong categories and then eventually alternating brushes in the most chaotic way possible. It was my chance to screw the happy faced faceless entity that screwed over underdeveloped countries in the name of a "a good life at a great price."
An hour later, I tossed a few brushes on the floor and walked out calmly. Not entirely content with my act of passive-agressive defiance, I chose to flip off the elderly "greeter" (who apparently held the power to abandon the fourth amendment and check people's possessions at random). How do you like that for a greeting?
I stopped by another Wal-Mart, bought the paint and went back to school to salvage my work day. Somewhere around three o'clock, I stopped by the QT across the street from the Wal-Mart and listened to a Wal-Mart associate talk about her day to the cashier.
"Is she still in intensive care?"
"No, she passed away this morning at hospice. I thought about taking the day off, but my manager had told me that we wouldn't have anyone to cover the paint department if I left."
"Sounds rough."
"It was awful." She cried for a minute and then continued, "Then I get to work and find out that someone played a prank. I had to skip my lunch just to try and fix the inventory."
"What did they do?"
"They rearranged all the paint brushes. Everything was out of place. Everything. I mean, there was no vandalism or theft, but it made my day that much worse."
"Sounds like a bad day."
"Maybe the worst ever."
I didn't have the courage to tell her it was me, but it helped me to see that, as corrupt as a company might be, there are human faces behind it, but the next day I wrote an apology letter and awkwardly handed it to the manager - still too scared to face the painting lady. The greeter scowled at me, but this time I was able to manage an "I'm sorry for the other day."
It taught me that passive-agression is still agression. But more importantly, it taught me that I never know the whole story and that I'd be better of going through life assuming that people have good intentions for some of their bizarre behavior.
My Comment
I have had those kinds of days to. But I also know how it feels to be the paint lady at wal-mart. I work at Bass Pro Shop and most of the time we have great Customers but there are sometimes those customers who make you wont to pull your hair out. I know sometimes people get frustrated and upset but it’s always better for both parties just to stay cool.
Mr. Spencer did not comment back.
Comment # 2
Wisconsin
I read
a quote from CNN:
"Wisconsin is ground zero," said Tim Phillips, president of Americans for Prosperity. "I think it is going to determine largely whether the pampered nature of these public employees is finally reigned in."
It got me fuming.
For awhile now, I've generally avoided mentioning politics on this blog. I lose followers and subscribers and nobody ever changes their mind anyway. And yet . . . I have a few thoughts in response to the events in Wisconsin:
- I'm not pampered. If I had a Master's in business instead of education, I'd probably be making a minimum of seventy grand. I don't pretend teachers are a horribly mistreated group. I do, however, believe that we are not pampered. It's not an easy job and it doesn't pay a great salary. Yet, it has it's rewards and we cannot grow bitter in light of the times we get to impact a child's life.
- Like most teachers, I didn't enter the profession for the money. However, I still want to earn a living wage.
- Complaining that public employees are earning too much in a bad economy ignores the reality that when the economy is good, we don't get massive bonuses and inflated salaries. Where was the large conservative outcry about how low teachers were being paid from 2000-2009?
- Unions are a part of democracy and they are a part of capitalism. It's the idea that by manipulating the supply, they increase the price paid for workers. The right to strike is what creates a check on the right to fire at will. Like anything that works in America, unions and employers both need to find a balance. Right now the debate lacks nuance.
- For all the times that a union supports a lousy, lazy worker, there are at least a dozen times that it protects hard-working employees who are being screwed over in a power play. I've seen it firsthand in my own district and I've experienced it when the district wouldn't pay me my correct salary. My district has much better working conditions than nearby districts because we have collective bargaining and a very active NEA membership.
- People who get angry that they "have to be" in a union fail to understand that it's a social contract. It's like complaining about having to pay taxes. Quit whining if you benefit from it. You don't want to be in a union? Fine, there are non-union jobs out there. But here's the hitch (generally): they don't pay as well or offer the same benefits. Arizona teachers experience much worse conditions than Wisconsin teachers. In fact, union-based states tend to have higher levels of achievement.
- It was Wall Street and greedy investors who screwed over America. Let's be straight about that. When they were making gazillions on make believe loans, I was teaching kids how to read, write and think critically. I'm not the enemy. If you want to be angry about government spending, take your Tea Party protests to the corporate offices of Bank of America or Chase.
- It's not simply about budgets. The true war is a war on public institutions. Democracy fails without an educated public. Period. When citizens are uninformed, society shifts toward plutocracy. The media has done a horrible job with this. The debate has been framed as a "budget repair." Fine, I get that. Sometimes people face a pay cut. However, taking away things like collective bargaining or the right to strike moves past the issue of budget and into the question of workers' rights.
- Amazing how Obama suddenly supports unions, but pushes education policies that are anti-public, anti-teacher and anti-union.
- I agree that putting off debt for the future generations is a bad investment. Then again, I also think that putting off their education in the name of debt-reduction is equally ridiculous.
Bonus Thought:
It's fun to see things so heated in Wisconsin. For some reason, I always imagine the place as a very polite mostly cheese-eating and hot dishing baking utopia where everyone is pretty much well-behaved. Go Wisconsin. Nice to see a little rage once in awhile.
My Comment
My name is Ashleigh Skelton I am in Dr. Strange’s EDM310 Class at the University of South Alabama. Many of the issues you described that are going on in Wisconsin were troubling to me. Ever since I have been in College I have wanted to do something that involved children. When I told my husband that I won’t to be a school teacher he said “They don’t make anything”. But that does not bother me. I wont to become a teacher to help and encourage a child to always do there best. I won’t to be able to say in the future that I taught that child. I completely agree with you. I think the idea of teachers being over paid is so ridiculous! I know of tons of teacher who are amazing at what they do. It takes a special person to teach (it’s not for everyone). I really look forward to your next blog post.
His Comment
Thanks for the encouraging words.
