I sit here sick as a dog, stuck in a web of irony. As a school teacher of middle school youth, I arrive at school at 5 AM and leave at 5 PM. About once a year, this schedule takes its toll on my body and I end up sick for a day or two. This year, some student-provided cold has walloped my body and left me dizzy enough to crawl around the house. I am attempting to recuperate by resting while watching movies. As an English teacher, I pray my sickness does not result in horrific writing… please forgive me if it does. Additional ironies flow from there…ironically below the fold.
The first irony:
I just finished Michael Moore’s Sicko. My (public sector) employer has raised my premiums each year because they have stopped contributing to my healthcare altogether. Since I see this cold as beatable (I’m guessing, I’m not a doctor), you might have guessed I have yet to go to the doctor. In my state, I could get busted for not seeking medical aid. I could also get busted for going to the doctor, seeing as I have a history of respiratory issues. I hope I get better. So do my students.
The second irony:
I am watching “Unnatural Causes.” This is a collection of episodes from California Newsreel. This series asks the question “Is inequality in America making us sick?” In my state, this question is particularly acute. The percentage of people living BELOW the poverty level is 20% and rising each year. The people living AT the poverty level (NOT below) is an additional 15 percent. As a teacher early in his career, my take home pay is $1,600 above the poverty level for my state for an averaged size family. Thank God I’m not in poverty, eh? But wait! There’s more. I spend approximately 20% of my salary on my classroom. This behavior is typical, not the exception. Where I teach, the money I make is considered a fortune. The least I can do is “struggle” with a few less trips to the fast food joints. Perhaps even one less trip to the doctor….
The third irony:
As I watch these movies (and more) I surf the web, preparing for the classes I will teach next week (Yes, even when sick or on summer “break” we teachers are PREPARING. Anyone who claims we get a three month vacation can go sodomize themselves with a tear gas canister or Larry Craig- hey, I’m all about freedom of choice here.) On the “mainstream news,” I hear/see little on the Wisconsin teacher/labor strike while in my own state, the news goes dark on the 20% cut to education being proposed by our Secretary of Education. An irony within an irony here: this Sec. of Ed. has helped (nobody does this alone) decimate three other state educational systems which are now being sold off to the highest bidders… Irony x3: even with this privatization, little difference in the supposedly all-telling test scores we teachers and schools are judged by can be seen. Anyways, as a state with a looooooooong history of colonization and an overall colonized-mind mentality, few people are moved to action. Our union membership is lower than 15% as a state and only about 20% as a teacher’s union. Even with communiqués coming out each day during our legislative session, teachers are doing nothing.
Maybe I can go up to our capitol and make a difference by sneezing in some congressional and gubernatorial offices. I guess it comes down to a choice- do I get our “leaders” sick or do I go and risk getting healthcare of my own. Damn.