This has been a week filled with many stories and much emotion. As most of you, I am saddened by yet another school shooting in the news. I struggle, sometimes minute-by-minute, to comprehend how anyone can justify the gun culture in this country. I reposted a meme yesterday that said that Congress outlawed Lawn Jarts after one person was killed and one father went on a tear. (http://mentalfloss.com/article/31176/how-one-dad-got-lawn-darts-banned). Apparently, the Lawn Dart industry did not have as much money to encourage Congress people to keep them alive as the gun industry does. I’ve heard all of the arguments, and I don’t care what other people think anymore. There is NO FLIPPING REASON any human being, let alone a young adult, can walk into a store and buy an AR-15. NO REASON!!! Don’t even try to convince me otherwise because I’m done being reasonable and listening. From what I’ve read, it sounds like the kids from Parkland are going to make this the last school shooting. I’m behind them 1000%, and if I was rich, I’d fly down there and hug them all and march and scream right along with them. We should not live in fear when we send our children to school. If you disagree, go tell someone who might listen because I will not. I’ve been involved in active shooter drills and when you’re running across the field towards a police officer as he points a gun at you because there is no way he knows who you are, it’s terrifying, and I’m a 50 year old woman and it was a drill. Anyway, I hope these kids can impact and push for change.
I’m actively and passionately counting down my days to June 7. It’s funny how once my brain figured out that I could retire and only have to give up most food groups but not all, I’ve developed a serious case of senioritis. My colleagues in the library still hold hope that I will change my mind, but that will not be happening. I am ready to start the next phase of my life which includes not stressing about getting to sleep at 3am and no longer worrying about what goes on in the bathroom across from the library. I’m attempting to throw away a giant garbage can of crap a day, but I think a more realistic goal is one per week. Someone said I should just leave it and take what I want but there’s a ton of junk after 33 years! I thought I’d feel sad, but that hasn’t happened yet. Knowing me, there will eventually be tears, but right now, that light at the end of the tunnel is glowing brightly.
Let’s refer to the book about the demoralization of educators. The author makes a valid point that teachers are not burning out, they are leaving intentionally. Burning out implies that they are weak in some way…can’t take it. I feel that demoralized is more like it. More and more parents are on the attack, and more and more administrators bow down to their wants and needs. I have spent the last 33 years “building relationships” with kids, sometimes the most impossible kids, and I don’t think I had to let them walk all over me to do it. Some of my best relationships with kids were the ones that I had to fight with over and over again. Patting them on the back and saying “Try to light a smaller fire” next time is not the way to make things work. I’m an INFP, an empath and a Pisces, so I have a very strong sense of right and wrong (according to me, of course), so that makes living this life more difficult. Or maybe it’s my age. When I started, I thought the old timers were angry and bitter. Now, I get it. It’s sad though because through it all, I’ve always loved most of the kids.
Some insanity from the week at the vet clinic…stay with me here. Advice: if your chicken gets it’s face ripped off by a possum, euthanize it. There’s not much of a decision to be made there, and chickens can hang on for a long time. Advice: if your dog is no longer breathing and you’ve been treating its cough with honey, giving it more honey while it’s collapsed on the floor isn’t going to help. Advice: if you live in Marine Park, Brooklyn, NY, don’t call Madison, WI for your collapsed cat. Advice: don’t yell at the phone girl about your ill pet. She did not make your pet sick, and she does not appreciate you saying that you’ve already spent $500 at your stupid clinic and then ask for advice. It’s probably not going to work in your favor. Just put your dog on the phone and we can have a better conversation.
And that is all for today. There is always more to say…so stay tuned.
The Edgy Librarian 