It seems like a few of us are sick of working for the man. I propose we buy a house and bang it out real nice. Baru seemed to have a similar idea, but how do we get the money to get started? It might take a complicated plan, but I feel like it deserves some consideration.
Start with the theory that Heather and I could sell this house for seed money. She is pretty crafty about finding houses that need TLC, but are structurally sound and in great neighborhoods. We could sell this for profit, transfer the mortgage to the new house, and use the profit to salary Baru for the project. Then we need to figure out how to divide up the profits.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Part 3 of 2 Starting a [censored] with Airtran
Well, I thought I might add in the e-mail they have, as well as the latest Super Rant. I feel kind of sorry for "Some Jerk" (name withheld to protect the guilty. Who has to deal with me.
Subject: Try again.
Dear Airtran complaint department. The offer below has been rejected. I will NOT accept a free one-way (subject to blackout dates) for my silence about what you have done to us.
Offer material goods. T-shirts and hats, or some corporate trinkets. This offer of a one-way ticket is completely acceptable. Now, comeback with something substantial and I will consider dropping our two person campaign of writing and talking about how poorly we were treated by your company.
I really think Airtran is a terrible company for treating us the way they have and I plan on conveying this every person I now through the internet, personal communication, and all other means legally possible. I'm not accepting one free plane ticket, so what else do you have?
Dan Powers
[My Address to send stuff to]
>From: [Some Jerk]
>To:
>Subject: Re: You are probably going to lose a family of customers and everyone else I can convince not to fly with you.
>Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2007 21:39:51 -0400
>
>
>Dear Mr. Powers,
>
>On behalf of AirTran Airways, please accept my apology for the difficulties you experienced during your travel. Our objective is to operate our flights in a safe, reliable and timely manner, which will allow our customers to reach their destinations as scheduled. However, there are occasions when Air Traffic Control implements a holding program in an effort to better manage the volume of air traffic. While we understand the frustration this causes, we have no control over the situation and can only await their clearance.
>
>
>
>All of our Crew Members are instructed to professionally perform their responsibilities while providing the highest level of Caring Customer Service. There is simply no excuse for our agent's failure to properly address your concerns during a misconnection. I have forwarded a copy of your comments to the appropriate department head for review and action.
>
>
>
>
>
>As a gesture of good will, I have authorized complimentary one-way travel per passenger, valid for a period of one (1) year from today, to any destination on our system. In order to redeem this compensation, please call, 800.204.5695, and reference itinerary . Travel is subject to blackout dates and capacity controls. International Departure Taxes are not included.
>
>
>
>
>Your continued support is important to us.
>
>
>
>
>Sincerely,
>
>[Some Jerk]
>Customer Relations Department
>AirTran Airways
>
>
>
>--- Original Message ---
>From:
>Received: 8/9/2007 11:12:32 PM Eastern Standard Time (GMT - 4:00 )
>To:
>Subject: You are probably going to lose a family of customers and everyone else I can convince not to fly with you.
>
>
>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> COMMENTS My wife and I recently flew from LaGuardia to LAX with a stop in Atlanta. It cost me 27 consecutive hours of our lives before we left Atlanta. When it was mistake after misdirection of your employees that cost us our vacation. Leaving New York, there was a storm front approaching so the pilot let us know it would be an additional twenty minutes before we would leave. Three hours on the Tarmac later, when we were three planes from take-off, he announced he would take a vote from the passengers about whether to return to the gate or keep our spot in line for the next half hour. Four passengers decided they would rather return to the gate, so all of us had to get off the plane. It was later explained to us that you are not responsible for the weather, but I assure you I hold you accountable for the actions of your employees. When we were forced off the plane, we had to spend an extra half hour near the gate to ensure we didn't lose our seats. When the plane reboarded, we spent an extra hour on the plane when, if we had taken a "vote" we would have been in the air at least an hour before we actually left the ground. Again, pilots decision is not the same as weather problems. When we finally arrived in Atlanta, we were told by the gate agent that we had to run across Atlanta's airport to reach the next connecting flight. As I started to run, my wife asks the gate agent if our connecting flight had actually already left the gate. He sheepishly admitted that it had left the gate, left unsaid was he was wasting our time trying to send us running across the worlds biggest airport. We were then directed to customer service who gave us a voucher for a hotel room and promised we would be on the first flight to LA in the morning. I asked her for a ticket confirming this and she replied that the computer couldn't print the ticket, but there was no feasible way we would not be on that plane because they always took ten to twelve standby passengers on the first flight to LA. Standby ticket in hand, we called the numbers on the hotel voucher. Guess how many rooms were available. Can't guess? I'll give you a hint, the number was less than one and more than negative one. Zero is the number you are looking for. Of course, at that point, the customer service desk closed and everyone had left. We were told people worked at the airport through the night, but the only people we could find were the metal workers who were repairing the sheet metal around the airport at an almost injurious noise level. No bed, no blankets, stranded in Atlanta in a construction zone, we didn't get much sleep, but we had been assured we would be on that first departing flight. You could imagine how our hearts sank as the ticket agent in the morning told us we had no such deal. Having not bathed in 27 hours and barely slept for 38 hours, you could imagine how used we felt. Not only were not getting on the first flight in the morning, we were told you had no responsibility to us because of a "weather policy." Weather had less to do with our delay than the pilot taking an informal poll and grounding us, but the ticket agent again disappeared when we started to ask questions. Finally, after a complete day of dealing with the misdirection and inaccurate statements by Airtran employees, one person went into a computer and booked us on the next flight. It was that easy all along. I wish I had carried a tape recorder to record all the statements so I make a comedy, but at that point, we felt rather tragic. Nothing is more important to me than my time, and for Airtran to claim it was the weather's fault was not only inaccurate, it was downright misleading. The said thing is my wife and I each have two free tickets to fly anywhere in the country at anytime in the next six months, and they will most likely go unused. There are many places I want to see in the world, and none of them would I let Airtran fly me to. It was one of the more degrading experiences in my life. I look forward to sharing this experience with all of my family and friends and telling them how I wouldn't let Airtran fly me anywhere for free, never mind pay for the experience. Because of our delays, we couldn't meet up with the person we were staying with costing us another 10 hours of our vacation. An entire day of my life was wasted and no one would admit anything outside of the pilot who apologized, but of course I didn't bring my tape recorder, so I had no proof. I don't know how you would hope to make up for this experience, but I will be publishing the experience next week, and using this as an example of poor customer service whenever I get a chance unless you think you could find a way to make things right. Please encourage your employees to be forthright, because at the end of the day, a companies reputation is all it has to stand on. The good news for us is we fly frequently and we get to interact frequently with other frequent flyers. This was the worst and most degrading experience we have had with an airline, and hopefully we can share our experience with others. I thank you for hearing my concerns and I look forward to your response, Dan Powers
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> LAST NAME Powers
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> FIRST NAME Dan
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> AREA Flight Experience
>
> SUBJECT You are probably going to lose a family of customers and everyone else I can convince not to fly with you.
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
>------ Please do not remove your unique tracking number! ------
>From: Some Jerk
>To:
>Subject: Re: You are probably going to lose a family of customers and everyone else I can convince not to fly with you. <<>>
>Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2007 21:39:51 -0400
>
>
>Dear Mr. Powers,
>
>On behalf of AirTran Airways, please accept my apology for the difficulties you experienced during your travel. Our objective is to operate our flights in a safe, reliable and timely manner, which will allow our customers to reach their destinations as scheduled. However, there are occasions when Air Traffic Control implements a holding program in an effort to better manage the volume of air traffic. While we understand the frustration this causes, we have no control over the situation and can only await their clearance.
>
>
>
>All of our Crew Members are instructed to professionally perform their responsibilities while providing the highest level of Caring Customer Service. There is simply no excuse for our agent's failure to properly address your concerns during a misconnection. I have forwarded a copy of your comments to the appropriate department head for review and action.
>
>
>
>
>
>As a gesture of good will, I have authorized complimentary one-way travel per passenger, valid for a period of one (1) year from today, to any destination on our system. In order to redeem this compensation, please call, 800.204.5695, and reference itinerary . Travel is subject to blackout dates and capacity controls. International Departure Taxes are not included.
>
>
>
>
>Your continued support is important to us.
>
>
>
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Customer Relations Department
>AirTran Airways
>
>
>
>--- Original Message ---
>From:
>Received: 8/9/2007 11:12:32 PM Eastern Standard Time (GMT - 4:00 )
>To:
>Subject: You are probably going to lose a family of customers and everyone else I can convince not to fly with you.
>
>
>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> COMMENTS My wife and I recently flew from LaGuardia to LAX with a stop in Atlanta. It cost me 27 consecutive hours of our lives before we left Atlanta. When it was mistake after misdirection of your employees that cost us our vacation. Leaving New York, there was a storm front approaching so the pilot let us know it would be an additional twenty minutes before we would leave. Three hours on the Tarmac later, when we were three planes from take-off, he announced he would take a vote from the passengers about whether to return to the gate or keep our spot in line for the next half hour. Four passengers decided they would rather return to the gate, so all of us had to get off the plane. It was later explained to us that you are not responsible for the weather, but I assure you I hold you accountable for the actions of your employees. When we were forced off the plane, we had to spend an extra half hour near the gate to ensure we didn't lose our seats. When the plane reboarded, we spent an extra hour on the plane when, if we had taken a "vote" we would have been in the air at least an hour before we actually left the ground. Again, pilots decision is not the same as weather problems. When we finally arrived in Atlanta, we were told by the gate agent that we had to run across Atlanta's airport to reach the next connecting flight. As I started to run, my wife asks the gate agent if our connecting flight had actually already left the gate. He sheepishly admitted that it had left the gate, left unsaid was he was wasting our time trying to send us running across the worlds biggest airport. We were then directed to customer service who gave us a voucher for a hotel room and promised we would be on the first flight to LA in the morning. I asked her for a ticket confirming this and she replied that the computer couldn't print the ticket, but there was no feasible way we would not be on that plane because they always took ten to twelve standby passengers on the first flight to LA. Standby ticket in hand, we called the numbers on the hotel voucher. Guess how many rooms were available. Can't guess? I'll give you a hint, the number was less than one and more than negative one. Zero is the number you are looking for. Of course, at that point, the customer service desk closed and everyone had left. We were told people worked at the airport through the night, but the only people we could find were the metal workers who were repairing the sheet metal around the airport at an almost injurious noise level. No bed, no blankets, stranded in Atlanta in a construction zone, we didn't get much sleep, but we had been assured we would be on that first departing flight. You could imagine how our hearts sank as the ticket agent in the morning told us we had no such deal. Having not bathed in 27 hours and barely slept for 38 hours, you could imagine how used we felt. Not only were not getting on the first flight in the morning, we were told you had no responsibility to us because of a "weather policy." Weather had less to do with our delay than the pilot taking an informal poll and grounding us, but the ticket agent again disappeared when we started to ask questions. Finally, after a complete day of dealing with the misdirection and inaccurate statements by Airtran employees, one person went into a computer and booked us on the next flight. It was that easy all along. I wish I had carried a tape recorder to record all the statements so I make a comedy, but at that point, we felt rather tragic. Nothing is more important to me than my time, and for Airtran to claim it was the weather's fault was not only inaccurate, it was downright misleading. The said thing is my wife and I each have two free tickets to fly anywhere in the country at anytime in the next six months, and they will most likely go unused. There are many places I want to see in the world, and none of them would I let Airtran fly me to. It was one of the more degrading experiences in my life. I look forward to sharing this experience with all of my family and friends and telling them how I wouldn't let Airtran fly me anywhere for free, never mind pay for the experience. Because of our delays, we couldn't meet up with the person we were staying with costing us another 10 hours of our vacation. An entire day of my life was wasted and no one would admit anything outside of the pilot who apologized, but of course I didn't bring my tape recorder, so I had no proof. I don't know how you would hope to make up for this experience, but I will be publishing the experience next week, and using this as an example of poor customer service whenever I get a chance unless you think you could find a way to make things right. Please encourage your employees to be forthright, because at the end of the day, a companies reputation is all it has to stand on. The good news for us is we fly frequently and we get to interact frequently with other frequent flyers. This was the worst and most degrading experience we have had with an airline, and hopefully we can share our experience with others. I thank you for hearing my concerns and I look forward to your response, Dan Powers
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> LAST NAME Powers
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> FIRST NAME Dan
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> ADDRESS2
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> CITY STATE, ZIPCODE Arlington MA, 02474
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> AREA Flight Experience
>
> SUBJECT You are probably going to lose a family of customers and everyone else I can convince not to fly with you.
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> ORIGINATING PAGE http://www.airtran.com/help.aspx
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
>------ Please do not remove your unique tracking number! ------
Part 2 of 2 Now it's on...
Not only do I ridicule AirTrans offer of peace, I'm declaring all out [censored because I can't breath under water] on these guys. I am going to start hanging around airports wherever I go, asking why the company did what it did to all of it's staff, until I have demoralize the staff and convinced my fellow passengers not to ride AirTran.
The offer for peace was a one way free ticket anywhere AirTran travels. I'm going to write back, encouraging them to reconsider. The campaign of undermining AirTran begins today. TREMBLE IN FEAR AIRTRAN!!!!! You have annoyed Dantion, and [censored for fear of Patriot Act]. I will let all know you what you have done to my wife and I have. You have not only insulted me with this offer, but the thought of bringing this laughable offer to my wife makes me afraid.
I have two free roundtrip tickets to anywhere Airtran travels to begin with. I wouldn't even use the free tickets anywhere because of the constant deception AirTran used. The only acceptable truce would be something more material. I want an ounce of flesh. Hmmm... I'm out of clean t-shirts, I'm out of t-shirts. I'm demanding material goods.
The offer for peace was a one way free ticket anywhere AirTran travels. I'm going to write back, encouraging them to reconsider. The campaign of undermining AirTran begins today. TREMBLE IN FEAR AIRTRAN!!!!! You have annoyed Dantion, and [censored for fear of Patriot Act]. I will let all know you what you have done to my wife and I have. You have not only insulted me with this offer, but the thought of bringing this laughable offer to my wife makes me afraid.
I have two free roundtrip tickets to anywhere Airtran travels to begin with. I wouldn't even use the free tickets anywhere because of the constant deception AirTran used. The only acceptable truce would be something more material. I want an ounce of flesh. Hmmm... I'm out of clean t-shirts, I'm out of t-shirts. I'm demanding material goods.
This is a two part entry (part 1 of 2)
I'm not sure what's worse, losing an entire day of your life to travel from Boston to a runway in Atlanta, or being told the entire time you will be waiting for about another twenty minutes, until the person behind a desk hands you a voucher for a hotel room that has no vacancies and promises you will get on the next available flight. And then you never do get on that flight. Arrgghh, I honestly can't express my anger an at this airline, because if I went on the rant I want to, they'd send me a certain bay in Cuba.
Okay, it's the fact that those smug little b@st@rds kept lying to us. They told us to run for planes that were no longer on the runway. They knew the planes had left, they told us to run across the airport in Atlanta. The biggest airport in the US.
They gave us a voucher for a hotel room because they had screwed up. But I'm regressing. While they kept our destination of LA another twenty minutes at all times, we had to listen to one employee of this airline after another explain why the last employee had lied to us, and they were about to fix it, repeat cycle every twenty minutes for 27 hours.
They mucked with the wrong G. I'm personally going to ridicule every passenger I see who takes this airline. [content censored to keep me from being waterboarded]
But that's not why I'm writing this entry, not to [content censored] but to find out what I get for my little holiday in hell. Oh, and in the hell that is Atlanta, they airport was being renovated by Iron workers. Everywhere, someone was firing up an arc welder and melting plastic. They had masks. We didn't even get a blanket. AAARRRRGGGHHHH! Thinking about it makes me want to...
Anyway, I just got the email back. In part two of this entry I'll reveal the contents of the e-mail response and tell you what I get for my wrongful imprisonment.
Okay, it's the fact that those smug little b@st@rds kept lying to us. They told us to run for planes that were no longer on the runway. They knew the planes had left, they told us to run across the airport in Atlanta. The biggest airport in the US.
They gave us a voucher for a hotel room because they had screwed up. But I'm regressing. While they kept our destination of LA another twenty minutes at all times, we had to listen to one employee of this airline after another explain why the last employee had lied to us, and they were about to fix it, repeat cycle every twenty minutes for 27 hours.
They mucked with the wrong G. I'm personally going to ridicule every passenger I see who takes this airline. [content censored to keep me from being waterboarded]
But that's not why I'm writing this entry, not to [content censored] but to find out what I get for my little holiday in hell. Oh, and in the hell that is Atlanta, they airport was being renovated by Iron workers. Everywhere, someone was firing up an arc welder and melting plastic. They had masks. We didn't even get a blanket. AAARRRRGGGHHHH! Thinking about it makes me want to...
Anyway, I just got the email back. In part two of this entry I'll reveal the contents of the e-mail response and tell you what I get for my wrongful imprisonment.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
I think I'm the only teacher in the world who hates Gardener's Theory on Multiple Intelligences.
Restarting this entry after more reading. AAARRRGGGGHHHH! My frustration with Gardener's theories deserve more than a few sentences.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Ever meet a kid like Mike? 8 out of 10 on the Rant scale.
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1651002,00.html?cnn=yes
I have taught several kids who needed therapy and medication. They would mentally snap from time to time, trying to get beat up or suspended, pushing to hurt people physically and emotionally as much as they could. Bringing them to administrators would do less than nothing.
A few times I asked why we just let mentally ill students off the hook. In the suburbs, I heard we just didn't have the money to get a kid help. In one case, I had to beg the parents to hire a lawyer to advocate for their kid. The school couldn't wait to expel their kid, and they never knew they weren't going to get a fair shake. One thing graduate teaching school does for you is tell you how many rights the families have. We managed to get this particular student into an intensive treatment program that lasted for a year. I saw him on the street last month, and he was back to being the kid that broke into houses for drug money.
If he didn't self-medicate, he might have killed himself (I've seen that happen as well). I got myself into a lot of hot water standing up for this kid. As soon as I left town, he was expelled.
Another kid in the same town was undiagnosed, but exhibited severe bipolar behavior. He tried to get himself thrown out of school once a month by picking out a teacher and swearing and threatening until he could upset an entire cafeteria. Two days later, he would sincerely apologize. He was going to talk a speeding ticket into major jail time someday. As far as I know, he never got the help he needed. Not enough money in the budget, not even in the suburbs. Teachers were instructed to avoid this student because there was nothing else we could do without funds. I guess we could have given up textbooks and paper. I hope you never meet him on a bad day, because he could get dangerous.
In the city, these stories are legion. One student would pick fights once a week and would get his face smashed every other onth. That would get him suspended for week, when he would come back in and start the process all over. He didn't need punishment and didn't respond to punishment, but the school had no other way of dealing with him and seats in therapeutic environments are hard to come by.
Mental illness tends to run in families, and in the city, you can go without help for generations. I could pick out a few people I thought might grow into petty violent criminals, and the principal always did the best he could. Without more resources, there was nothing he could do but try to isolate the problems and try to educate the rest of the students as much as possible.
One day, one of these kids is going to grow up and do something bad. Society will punish the hell out of this kid, and we'll all feel better that the criminal is off the streets. Someone's mother or daughter will say, "Justice was served today." I wonder how much people will be patting each other on the backs when they lock the perpetrator up. I know that a few people will say, "We should have seen it coming."
In each of these kid's files, I have carefully documented the issues. I would have to say the City of Medford hired the best people to deal with this and coordinate with the teachers and parents for the best plan of action. They may have done this at the expense of hiring another guidance counselor to help the students get into the best colleges. And the best counselor had the most disturbed students eat lunch with her everyday. Boston and Arlington are just totally overmatched.
In America, people think the money they have in their paycheck is the money they earn, and they shouldn't have to pay so much in taxes. That's a valid philosophy, but just realize that if you accepted a few hundred dollars less each year or gave an hour or two each week to work with kids who needed you, you honestly wouldn't have to worry so much.
I know that my generation can't make this happen. I've spent enough time volunteering with old hippies to know that people my age just aren't into the slow fix. The only other solution is to prepare the next generation to be ready to sacrifice their personal time and money. That's where I am right now.
There have been a couple of stories recently about people who tried to volunteer that have been mutilated or killed. My generation is arriving at the problem a bit late, and very few of the Yuppie generation have seen fit to pitch in. I would expect things to get a bit worse before they get better. The book "Freakonomics" seems to have a different take on inner city crime statistics. It's a good read if you get the chance. I still think the only way to do something about violent crime in the city is to stop it a generation before it happens.
I have taught several kids who needed therapy and medication. They would mentally snap from time to time, trying to get beat up or suspended, pushing to hurt people physically and emotionally as much as they could. Bringing them to administrators would do less than nothing.
A few times I asked why we just let mentally ill students off the hook. In the suburbs, I heard we just didn't have the money to get a kid help. In one case, I had to beg the parents to hire a lawyer to advocate for their kid. The school couldn't wait to expel their kid, and they never knew they weren't going to get a fair shake. One thing graduate teaching school does for you is tell you how many rights the families have. We managed to get this particular student into an intensive treatment program that lasted for a year. I saw him on the street last month, and he was back to being the kid that broke into houses for drug money.
If he didn't self-medicate, he might have killed himself (I've seen that happen as well). I got myself into a lot of hot water standing up for this kid. As soon as I left town, he was expelled.
Another kid in the same town was undiagnosed, but exhibited severe bipolar behavior. He tried to get himself thrown out of school once a month by picking out a teacher and swearing and threatening until he could upset an entire cafeteria. Two days later, he would sincerely apologize. He was going to talk a speeding ticket into major jail time someday. As far as I know, he never got the help he needed. Not enough money in the budget, not even in the suburbs. Teachers were instructed to avoid this student because there was nothing else we could do without funds. I guess we could have given up textbooks and paper. I hope you never meet him on a bad day, because he could get dangerous.
In the city, these stories are legion. One student would pick fights once a week and would get his face smashed every other onth. That would get him suspended for week, when he would come back in and start the process all over. He didn't need punishment and didn't respond to punishment, but the school had no other way of dealing with him and seats in therapeutic environments are hard to come by.
Mental illness tends to run in families, and in the city, you can go without help for generations. I could pick out a few people I thought might grow into petty violent criminals, and the principal always did the best he could. Without more resources, there was nothing he could do but try to isolate the problems and try to educate the rest of the students as much as possible.
One day, one of these kids is going to grow up and do something bad. Society will punish the hell out of this kid, and we'll all feel better that the criminal is off the streets. Someone's mother or daughter will say, "Justice was served today." I wonder how much people will be patting each other on the backs when they lock the perpetrator up. I know that a few people will say, "We should have seen it coming."
In each of these kid's files, I have carefully documented the issues. I would have to say the City of Medford hired the best people to deal with this and coordinate with the teachers and parents for the best plan of action. They may have done this at the expense of hiring another guidance counselor to help the students get into the best colleges. And the best counselor had the most disturbed students eat lunch with her everyday. Boston and Arlington are just totally overmatched.
In America, people think the money they have in their paycheck is the money they earn, and they shouldn't have to pay so much in taxes. That's a valid philosophy, but just realize that if you accepted a few hundred dollars less each year or gave an hour or two each week to work with kids who needed you, you honestly wouldn't have to worry so much.
I know that my generation can't make this happen. I've spent enough time volunteering with old hippies to know that people my age just aren't into the slow fix. The only other solution is to prepare the next generation to be ready to sacrifice their personal time and money. That's where I am right now.
There have been a couple of stories recently about people who tried to volunteer that have been mutilated or killed. My generation is arriving at the problem a bit late, and very few of the Yuppie generation have seen fit to pitch in. I would expect things to get a bit worse before they get better. The book "Freakonomics" seems to have a different take on inner city crime statistics. It's a good read if you get the chance. I still think the only way to do something about violent crime in the city is to stop it a generation before it happens.
Something big is about to happen that will change America...
...and I'm kind of scared. In early 2001, If anyone can remember that far back, shark attacks were the big story. Sharks that bit people, sharks that were pulled ashore by uncles, sharks, sharks, sharks. My friend DTUndacova wrote asking what all the shark attack news was about, and I replied it must be a slow news cycle.
I also wrote something would come along soon and we would forget all about the sharks attacking people, because that happened every year and wasn't truly "national" news. I never thought it would be people flying giant planes into giant office buildings.
Every once in a while, we hit a slow news span, and local news gets confused with national news. We start to follow a story about a baby that was almost hurt in a hot car. Not hurt at all mind you, kind of a close call though. This is a story that could be run every week. Babies make you tired, and lack of sleep makes you unable to perform basic tasks.
You have a baby that cries at night, and your life goes on autopilot for a while. You try to drive to the supermarket, and you find yourself in the office building parking lot wondering why you left the house. Decisions don't get made on somedays, and tragically, sometimes you forget you had a sleeping baby in your car.
This is tragic for the parents, but we still bring them into court and decide what to do with these fiends. Sometimes, we put them away for years at a time, sometimes we feel bad and let them go on with their now guilt ridden existence. Happens all over the country, and it may happen to me someday. I hope it never does, but I know what it's like to not sleep for a few days, anything is possible.
We have hit the point in the news cycle where near misses are being reported nationally, so we have lost sight of what national news is once again. Maybe it will be floods, or earthquakes, or riots, or a new Great Depression, or... just about anything. People will ask if it's the end of the world, or the beginning of the end. It's the end of a news cycle, the end of an era.
People don't care what color the alert system is anymore. You could print the terror alert level signs on a novelty t-shirt, no one would bat an eyelash. That's the good news. People are a lot less afraid of terrorist these days and seem to more concerned with parent leaving babies in cars and if Paris Hilton remembered to put on underwear.
Less irrational fear about terrorists is a very good thing. I'm just waiting for the next irrational fear that's going to sweep the country, and I'm worried about whose going to have to pay for our fear.
I also wrote something would come along soon and we would forget all about the sharks attacking people, because that happened every year and wasn't truly "national" news. I never thought it would be people flying giant planes into giant office buildings.
Every once in a while, we hit a slow news span, and local news gets confused with national news. We start to follow a story about a baby that was almost hurt in a hot car. Not hurt at all mind you, kind of a close call though. This is a story that could be run every week. Babies make you tired, and lack of sleep makes you unable to perform basic tasks.
You have a baby that cries at night, and your life goes on autopilot for a while. You try to drive to the supermarket, and you find yourself in the office building parking lot wondering why you left the house. Decisions don't get made on somedays, and tragically, sometimes you forget you had a sleeping baby in your car.
This is tragic for the parents, but we still bring them into court and decide what to do with these fiends. Sometimes, we put them away for years at a time, sometimes we feel bad and let them go on with their now guilt ridden existence. Happens all over the country, and it may happen to me someday. I hope it never does, but I know what it's like to not sleep for a few days, anything is possible.
We have hit the point in the news cycle where near misses are being reported nationally, so we have lost sight of what national news is once again. Maybe it will be floods, or earthquakes, or riots, or a new Great Depression, or... just about anything. People will ask if it's the end of the world, or the beginning of the end. It's the end of a news cycle, the end of an era.
People don't care what color the alert system is anymore. You could print the terror alert level signs on a novelty t-shirt, no one would bat an eyelash. That's the good news. People are a lot less afraid of terrorist these days and seem to more concerned with parent leaving babies in cars and if Paris Hilton remembered to put on underwear.
Less irrational fear about terrorists is a very good thing. I'm just waiting for the next irrational fear that's going to sweep the country, and I'm worried about whose going to have to pay for our fear.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
My Rant Against Poverty: Rant 1.
Think of your ten favorite foods, ten favorite possessions, and your relationship with your favorite family members. Now imagine the government making all of those specific things illegal, but only for you. That is what it is like to live in poverty. Take away all opportunities, all your favorite books, your favorite channels, and everything you like about your job, Never again will you attend a sporting event unless you get tickets from a charity. You don't get turkey on Thanksgiving, unless it's a charity turkey. You don't get to dream about the big house, the nice car, or working your way out of poverty.
America is called the land of opportunity, and we believe that every person in this land has a chance to make it big. What if you knew that you only hope was to take from someone else? What if you had to watch someone in your family die because you couldn't afford medicine. What would you do to find happiness? What would be your definition of happiness if all material possessions and comforts were stripped away? Would be sex, drugs, doping yourself until you were happy?
Would you do drugs and have sex if you never really thought you had a chance at life? What if your brother was in jail for selling drugs to try to get the life he believed the rest of America had, and your father? What if your older brother and father were murdered, leaving you and your junkie mother alone in the world and you were just twelve years old?
What if you suffered from seizures and didn't remember things like other people did and you were being raised by your single grandmother, who had nothing? What if your mother committed suicide in the projects and you lived with your promiscuous grandmother who locked you out of the house to have sex with her new boyfriend at night?
Now, you are back to being you again, off the streets and living in your comfortable house, able to lock out the world of the desperate. What would you do to change things for the children who live in this reality. Lock your doors tight if you are in a big city, because these desperate kids are growing bigger and stronger every day and they will soon be able to take what you would not give them. I know all these kids, and they need more than you can possibly give them. I ate lunch every weekday with all of them and earned their trust and respect, but I couldn't make a dent in their lives for the better.
They can read and write and think, but what is the point when everyday you live in a prison. What punishment is left to help correct them. You can't control a person without choices, they already know the end result. Sometimes, the last choice is to take what they know they won't be given the opportunity to earn, and god help you if you have what they need.
Don't feel guilty, because you haven't really wronged anyone. America is a country where we believe anyone can get anything they work hard enough for, and rightfully so. The only thing that will make you safe is if you insure each of these kids has an opportunity at the age of maturity, which means we need to work with each and everyone of these kids from birth to maturity to let them know they do have the opportunity to succeed and making the wrong choice is throw away that opportunity.
Now, I'd love to be able to tell you that I got the ideas of opportunity to all of my students, but the fact is, we worked most days without enough paper or pencils. When we worked with current events, I could only afford four newspapers a day, and they had to be shared by 28 students in each class. The only way we had a sports banquet at our school was the coach had to pay for all of the food out of pocket, as well as the trophies. Thankfully, his family donated money.
But that's life in the big city, so make sure you lock your doors and keep out these kid's reality. As the kids unknowingly wait for the next charity to give them an opportunity that you take for granted, don't look too close. You just might find yourself caring and doing something about it.
America is called the land of opportunity, and we believe that every person in this land has a chance to make it big. What if you knew that you only hope was to take from someone else? What if you had to watch someone in your family die because you couldn't afford medicine. What would you do to find happiness? What would be your definition of happiness if all material possessions and comforts were stripped away? Would be sex, drugs, doping yourself until you were happy?
Would you do drugs and have sex if you never really thought you had a chance at life? What if your brother was in jail for selling drugs to try to get the life he believed the rest of America had, and your father? What if your older brother and father were murdered, leaving you and your junkie mother alone in the world and you were just twelve years old?
What if you suffered from seizures and didn't remember things like other people did and you were being raised by your single grandmother, who had nothing? What if your mother committed suicide in the projects and you lived with your promiscuous grandmother who locked you out of the house to have sex with her new boyfriend at night?
Now, you are back to being you again, off the streets and living in your comfortable house, able to lock out the world of the desperate. What would you do to change things for the children who live in this reality. Lock your doors tight if you are in a big city, because these desperate kids are growing bigger and stronger every day and they will soon be able to take what you would not give them. I know all these kids, and they need more than you can possibly give them. I ate lunch every weekday with all of them and earned their trust and respect, but I couldn't make a dent in their lives for the better.
They can read and write and think, but what is the point when everyday you live in a prison. What punishment is left to help correct them. You can't control a person without choices, they already know the end result. Sometimes, the last choice is to take what they know they won't be given the opportunity to earn, and god help you if you have what they need.
Don't feel guilty, because you haven't really wronged anyone. America is a country where we believe anyone can get anything they work hard enough for, and rightfully so. The only thing that will make you safe is if you insure each of these kids has an opportunity at the age of maturity, which means we need to work with each and everyone of these kids from birth to maturity to let them know they do have the opportunity to succeed and making the wrong choice is throw away that opportunity.
Now, I'd love to be able to tell you that I got the ideas of opportunity to all of my students, but the fact is, we worked most days without enough paper or pencils. When we worked with current events, I could only afford four newspapers a day, and they had to be shared by 28 students in each class. The only way we had a sports banquet at our school was the coach had to pay for all of the food out of pocket, as well as the trophies. Thankfully, his family donated money.
But that's life in the big city, so make sure you lock your doors and keep out these kid's reality. As the kids unknowingly wait for the next charity to give them an opportunity that you take for granted, don't look too close. You just might find yourself caring and doing something about it.
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