On Saturday, my fiancee and I decided to go out for a good time. I am just now getting over some sort of weird flu/cold which made me feel like shit for a couple of days, so I wanted to go out and have some fun. Midterms have been hell this term and it was time to blow off some steam.
So I get to the gas station, and ask the attendant to fill it up and tell him that I will pay inside for the gas because there a few things I want from the store. I go around, do my junk food shopping and get up to the front. The cashier asks me if I want anything else and I asked for a pack of cigarettes and paid for my purchases. After that, I expected that I would just be on my way.
Not so fast, cowboy Adam. Oh no, you've got a big ol' fat pack of republican lies about teachers on their way to your eardrums. The gas attendant who had pumped my gas had come inside and was sitting on a stool next to the cash register. He is a tall, very angry type gentleman who was loudly shouting bullshit so everyone within a half mile radius could hear and confirm how right he was about the topic of education. He was yelling and screaming about how lazy teachers are ruining education, and thus American's futures, by being...well...teachers.
It seemed as if there were one of two ways that I could play this situation. I could walk out quietly, and just be on my merry way or I could try to actively and loudly counter this man's obvious bullshit about the state of education in this country. I decided that there may just be a third way around this nonsense. It was very clear that I had to say something, all the customers in this store, the cashier, everyone is going to walk away from this interaction thinking -- quite literally -- that teachers are ruining America. I know this to be absolutely false.
I tried a gentle approach with the man. Just as he had finished saying "I PAY 800 DOLLARS A YEAR FOR THESE PEOPLE AND WHAT DO THEY DO BESIDES MOLEST KIDS AND FEED OFF THE GOVERNMENT DOLE", when I piped up and said "Ya know, first of all, I think that teachers for the most part do a very good job with children. This problem is much more complex and intractible than simply saying that its all the teacher's fault that kids aren't learning. You are ignoring 99.99999% of that problem by simply laying the blame at the teachers feet. And the comment about molestation is absolutely out-of-bounds. My father in law is a teacher, and I am sure he would resent that gross mischaracterization"
This, unfortunately, did little to persuade the poor right wing buffoon behind the counter. At this point, the cashier who rang me up started looking extremely uncomfortable with the conversation and I could see the fear in her eyes that this might turn into one of those infamous political-shouting-matches-between-strangers that normal people fear. So I ended it there.
But, oh good god there was so much more that I wanted to say to him:
"I mean, really dude? 800 dollars? You think the 800 dollars that you pay in taxes for education is enough to educate all of the K-12 students in our area? Do you really understand just what the fuck you are paying for? These noble people babysit 40 children or adolescents or teenagers for 6-8 hours a day and are supposed to be preparing future leaders and inspiring youngsters for just your measly 800 dollars a year? Do you realize that childcare pre K-12 is much more than just 800 dollars a year, and it isn't even necessarily their job to teach kids anything? So you really fucking expect this poor, overworked, underpaid individual to shoulder ALL of the responsibility of raising your child to become a successful adult simply because you paid 800 dollars in taxes? You are fucking kidding me right?
Which brings me to my point about this problem's intractability. You can't really expect schools that are completely underfunded to bring kids into the 21st century with so little effort from the parents and society around them. Okay? Listen, I know you are just putting your failings as a PARENT on the schools, but how about suck it up and take some personal responsibility for YOUR AND YOUR CHILDRENS LIVES? Oh, you conservatives love to crow about personal responsibility, but when it comes to your own failings you would much rather put it on a school than admit that perhaps you could have had a little more time for Johnny or Jan at home, eh?
And I realize that some parents don't physically have enough time in the day for their children, because they are working sometimes two full time jobs a piece to stay afloat. But don't you realize that the problem isn't with lazy teachers. Perhaps a very small part of the problem, but most teachers want their students to be successful. To most teachers, teaching is a passion. And a measure of their success in said passion is students who do well. Its not like there is this massive epidemic of teachers who just don't give a shit about their students out there. Most of these people are doing their best, spending their own money on school supplies, spending their own time developing lesson plans, taking time out of their own busy schedule to answer parents questions and really care about each and every one of their student's education. Can you say that you have that much dedication to your work, Mr. Gas Station Attendant? Would you go and pump someone's gas after closing time because they happened to run out at the gas station? Fuck no.
And yet they get paid very little for their time, have to buy their own school supplies, and on top of all that, have to sit there and listen to people like you say that all of America's problems rest on THEIR shoulders. Its complete bullshit"
I feel ashamed that in the interest of going along to get along I didn't say all of this. I just wanted to have fun, but instead I let this prick ruin my whole day on Saturday. I wish that I could have said more, but instead I left with my tail tucked between my legs. Sigh.