Shame on Me

I was in WalMart the other day and a well dressed young man approached me. As he drew closer I recognized him as one of my students when I student taught at Benton ten years ago. We spoke breifly about his classmantes and he told me that he was a practicing lawyer. This did not suprise me. He was a great kid to have in class and was quite clever. As we left each other I realized something very embarrasing, I forgot his name.

My wife helped me realize a while back that I had a tendency to spend a lot of time on my "bad" kids. This is true. I could tell you some stories about my worse kids and tell you all their names. This is sad and shameful. The young man I spoke to in WalMart was a great student and kids like this should not be overlooked. Instead we expect them to do good things and we fail to spend time on them. He gave me maximum effort and respect in that classroom and I cant even remember his name. I ahve tried to make myself feel better about this by thinking surely teachers forget kids names at some point in their careers but that is no excuse. Shame on me!

Keep Our Eyes on the Ball!

Not to long ago I saw something that just shook me. Crosswalk Community Action is a valuable resource to those in need and they have a building located right here in West Frankfort. On certain days of the month they offer various kinds of assistance that apparently are first come first serve as people line up early in the morning. Sometimes I see these folks lined up as I leave town. The last time I happened to see people waiting in line I saw a man proudly showing off something. His brand new tattoo. Not just a simple heart with "I Love Mom" in it but a half of a sleeve of elaborate art. Something tells me I know where the rent money went.

This calls into question on how well we are actually keeping our eye on the ball. There are examples of this all over the place.

• Illinois politicians know we have a budget problem but are willing to ignore their own goal of having a new budget before they leave for summer break.
• Tons of students are graduating from high schools and colleges but are they ready? Are we really focusing on preparing our kids are we worrying about who gets to start in the football game?
• There are a ton of politicians making it their mission to show that our president is failing instead of showing our president how they can help. I guess elections are more important than the American people.
• Recently a local government chose to put public safety at risk by cutting firefighters and police officers instead of cutting positions that would possibly make thanksgiving dinner uncomfortable if you know what I mean.

Folks, keep your eye on the ball. We have serious problems these days and it take serious people to solve them. For once lets put the general welfare above our own. Lets be a man and do anything it takes to feed our kids instead of getting that flashy new tattoo and then standing in the rent assistance line.

The Face Book

For a few months now I have partaken in Facebook. I was originally skeptical but I was happy with being able to keep up with friends that I had lost touch with. In addition to my delights there have been an equal number of disappointments.

Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg, a student at Harvard University. The stories are unclear as the purpose for Facebook. One story suggests his first post was about breaking up with his girlfriend and others suggest it was a way to upload pictures for an art class in preparation for an art final.

No matter what the story I'm sure he didn't didn't envision my facebook page looking like a constant sink of dirty dishes. Everytime I log in I feel that I can never catch up with my meager 111 friends and some of the crap that I wade through just to get to a meaningful post. I would like to share my facebook nuances:

• Farm, Mafia, and that other jazz drives me crazy.
• Constant invites.
• Political commentary - only because its very hard to not reply back.
• I don't really care who and what my current friends join or befriend. (nothing personal)

I realize that these things may be necessary evils but it really keeps me from wanting to log in at all. The addition of these sites really makes me wonder what we are becoming. Are we that narcissistic to think that somebody out there wants to follow us and know what we are doing all of the time. Do I really think that some of my facebook friends who have over 400 friends actually are speaking to them individually? Maybe I'm just being old fashioned but I'm sure I will eventually get on board.

Mother's Day

Recently I had some minor surgery done to clear up my sinus passages and hopefully prevent so many infections. I had never been in surgery or been put under. It was a little nerve racking but I can tell you to draw strength I just needed to think of my wife and mother.

I was raised by my grandmother since I was a year and a half old. I could have been left to God knows what in Tennessee but she made a huge sacrifice for me and took me in. She battled her own health issues that inlcude surviving cervical cancer and fighting diabetes until her death. She always put our well being in fron of hers and that was her policy.

My wife and I have two great children. To deliver these miracles into the world my wife had to endure two c-sections. I know this sounds run of the mill these days but a good deal of pain and worry comes with this procedure. As I lay on the table and think about my own mild suffering I just needed to remind myself of what these women have went through for me.

Please take time this weekend to say happy mother's day to any women in your life that are mothers or even play mothers to so many kids.