Delcina was in attack mode tonight on our way home. The funny thing about working with your wife is that the drive to and from work are together, so the common need to refuel before work is exhilarating while sometimes trying to wind down from a long day can either be stressful, slap happy or combative. I don't know if she ever reads these things, but she was making her tone very clear that I was in the wrong on my waffling stance on the current bill.
So we get into sick days (the current bill, from my limited knowledge, wants to limit the number of sick days we have), like if some are eliminated it may deter the one person who takes every Friday off maybe wont because they're aren't so many days in the coffer. I understand that my argument is flawed because this doesn't count the person who has been in the system forever and probably has enough days to last a year, or the woman who takes 6 weeks for family leave when she has a baby. I'm also not taking into account legitimate life and death diseases or some kind of calamity. Those things happen and it only counts as a skewing of the overall number. We get into people who abuse Fridays and Mondays and no one is allowed to say anything to me whatsoever if I'm off. There seems to be something amiss about not having to provide a doctor's note or some kind of excuse as to where I am when I'm supposed to be teaching. Just because we have the "right" to do something doesn't mean we should exercise that right. I know this all to well. Maybe I've been that person?
But this conversation isn't so much about busting the unions, or worker's rights but everything to do with my vision as an educator. I remember driving past my first elementary school job assignment, and it struck me that there were a lot of similarities to one of my schools I walked to as a kid. This was the place I belonged! I can't tell you enough about that first year except that I failed miserably, screamed too much and respected no one. I had my thoughts on what to fix and soon realized it was more than the kids that made a true teacher special. But, no matter what I tried, or how many tears I cried on the last day of school (I still do sometimes), I still ended up like every other frustrated lounge denizen. At home, it wasn't much different. A real man I had not become.
So what do I really wish for? It has nothing to do with union representation or workers' rights. I want to come to work an not have anyone count down the days till Friday, Christmas Break, Spring Break or Summer Break. I want to have productive meetings where my boss leads and gets us so invested in the school, we would be foolish to do lesson plans instead. What would it look like if we had meetings we didn't want to miss? I want my colleagues to make phone calls to parents even when they piss them off, or to have silly competitions to see who can attract more parents at conferences. I want to see happy faces and hi-fives.
I have work to do too, dear reader. I failed today. I yelled at a kid who touched my Smartboard when he wasn't supposed to and I keep forgetting to print something for a group. I threw away an assessment because it wasn't smart enough for what I needed and I got after my second reading group for basically being kids. I'm going to smile more tomorrow and work on improving. I will not count my days until Friday. I will chase the lion into the snowy pit. I will face the uncertainty of where this job will lead and the answer has nothing to do with what my union, my elected rep or president will do. Man will always let you down. God doesn't.
So, I'm going to trust in the only thing I can count on. God.
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