Somebody Isn't Doing The Job
I was running an errand this afternoon in preparation for my wife to return home from downtown Chicago. I ran into a cashier at a grocery store that could not solve a problem. He could not solve the math problem that was presented to him by a non-cooperative patron, nor could he solve the practical problem of making the register do what he wanted it to do. It struck me that someone had failed to do there job.
My first instinct was to blame this young person for not taking school seriously and learning the basics of math. I know that when I went to school the problem he was trying to resolve was taught to me from the first grade right up into my senior year. But then I realized something I had not considered before today... my senior year in high school was less stringent and less productive than my experience in first grade.
My second instinct was to blame the young man's parents for not making him go to school, do his homework, work harder, or get some tutoring for him during the summer. But then I recalled that my parents hadn't done that for me either. I went to school and I did my homework because that was where I saw my future... at least until I turned 18 and was able to legally sign out of school during my senior year. School had somehow lost touch with my needs as a learner. I was an eager learner and a high achiever. If I had stayed in school until graduation, I would have graduated with high marks... even though I missed a lot of school to work for my dad's construction business, worked my tail off to make it to my Judo lessons, and was busy trying to impress a few noteworthy females.
My last inkling was to blame the schools. But I have done my share of reviewing schools, and I have worked as a teacher. Most schools are doing the best they can with what they have available. But I found that I was always reaching into my own pocket to make sure I had the supplies and resources I needed to teach, make my classroom effective and grab the attention of my students. While I have run into a handful of educators that had no business being near students, the vast majority of teachers are dedicated to getting the job done, despite all the distractions, scatter-brained administration ideas, lack of consistent school discipline and budget deficits.
But after coming home I realized that we are failing as Americans. We are not building the culture that we believe we have. We are content believing that we are the greatest nation on the earth and we do not have to work at maintaining our status, our reputation, our ideals or our principles. We do not look out for each other any more. Our neighbors are strangers and they live next door. It used to be that we knew everyone on the block, knew when a family was in financial trouble, and knew who was crazy or a danger. Now we suspect everyone is either crazy or dangerous and stay behind our doors.
But we don't talk about politics any more either. We make excuses for not doing so because the topic of politics, like religion and family, always gets people riled up. But we used to have a tradition of talking politics in our bars, at the barber shop and at our dining tables. More importanly, we tend to talk about values but neglect to put them into practice. It seems like we have gotten accustomed to an easy way of doing things, which means we don't really deal with them.
I am going to make it a mission to go out and talk about politics, religion, education, ethics and other things that piss people off... and do it because it is part of the job of being an American... and a decent human being.
My first instinct was to blame this young person for not taking school seriously and learning the basics of math. I know that when I went to school the problem he was trying to resolve was taught to me from the first grade right up into my senior year. But then I realized something I had not considered before today... my senior year in high school was less stringent and less productive than my experience in first grade.
My second instinct was to blame the young man's parents for not making him go to school, do his homework, work harder, or get some tutoring for him during the summer. But then I recalled that my parents hadn't done that for me either. I went to school and I did my homework because that was where I saw my future... at least until I turned 18 and was able to legally sign out of school during my senior year. School had somehow lost touch with my needs as a learner. I was an eager learner and a high achiever. If I had stayed in school until graduation, I would have graduated with high marks... even though I missed a lot of school to work for my dad's construction business, worked my tail off to make it to my Judo lessons, and was busy trying to impress a few noteworthy females.
My last inkling was to blame the schools. But I have done my share of reviewing schools, and I have worked as a teacher. Most schools are doing the best they can with what they have available. But I found that I was always reaching into my own pocket to make sure I had the supplies and resources I needed to teach, make my classroom effective and grab the attention of my students. While I have run into a handful of educators that had no business being near students, the vast majority of teachers are dedicated to getting the job done, despite all the distractions, scatter-brained administration ideas, lack of consistent school discipline and budget deficits.
But after coming home I realized that we are failing as Americans. We are not building the culture that we believe we have. We are content believing that we are the greatest nation on the earth and we do not have to work at maintaining our status, our reputation, our ideals or our principles. We do not look out for each other any more. Our neighbors are strangers and they live next door. It used to be that we knew everyone on the block, knew when a family was in financial trouble, and knew who was crazy or a danger. Now we suspect everyone is either crazy or dangerous and stay behind our doors.
But we don't talk about politics any more either. We make excuses for not doing so because the topic of politics, like religion and family, always gets people riled up. But we used to have a tradition of talking politics in our bars, at the barber shop and at our dining tables. More importanly, we tend to talk about values but neglect to put them into practice. It seems like we have gotten accustomed to an easy way of doing things, which means we don't really deal with them.
I am going to make it a mission to go out and talk about politics, religion, education, ethics and other things that piss people off... and do it because it is part of the job of being an American... and a decent human being.
posted by Jim Downey at 5:04 PM
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