Feeling bad about snickering...
Oct. 9th, 2007 03:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ciroccojSo home schooling drop-in at Cosmic Adventures today, met a new home schooler, got along great, except for... well, let's just say she brought to mind a poem from one of the Little House On the Prairie books:
If wisdom's ways you wisely seek,
Five things observe with care:
To whom you speak,
Of whom you speak,
And how, and when, and where.
Nice lady. Really. Talked about our kids, home schooling, etc, the usual "It's nice that we get to spend more time with our kids and they get one-on-one, yadda yadda" interspersed with, "And you look at teachers today - so many are so burned out! And just completely not willing to give even five minutes of time for students who really need it! I mean really, how hard is it, it doesn't take that long to actually, you know, show some care for a student who's struggling, but no, it's 'My coffee break's at recess and don't bother me' - just terrible, really. I wouldn't trust my child to them for any money."
Did the polite Mmhm-let's-change-the-subject thing a few times, did the "Then again some teachers are really dedicated but their hands are tied by things we don't know about," then finally had to begin a sentence with, "Um, well, I wouldn't exactly say that. I mean, it often takes a lot longer than most people would think, to really make a difference to a troubled student. Especially when you've got 25 other students to keep track of. At least, that's what I found when I was working as a teacher."
Subject changed rather rapidly after that one. Eventually started talking about health care. And how you can go to Emerg and they just leave you there, for days on end, "Oh we can't give you a room because don't have any beds available" and then you say "Could somebody please just tell me what's wrong with me?" and it's all "Nope, you've got to wait two months for your MRI, and besides, it's the end of my shift so who cares, I'm going home, you're on your own..."
Again with the polite noises and subtle "look at the other side of the story" until again I had to reply to something she said with, "Yeah, it's frustrating. But then, you know, as my partner said when he was doing his residency, sometimes you've got twelve patients who've been waiting for hours and you know each one would only take you an hour to see, but you realize you've been up for 39 hours and can't actually see straight any more and you're probably going to do more harm than good if you try to do anything else, and you know there's nobody else but you don't really feel like you have a choice about leaving your patients so you can sleep. Especially when you know your next shift starts in six hours."
Another quick subject change.
A while later, Aboriginal issues come up, and another mom says something about the land claims in Caledonia, and new mom starts up again. "Oh I know! You just want to shake these people, don't you? And tell them Look, I know your people were treated badly in the past, and I'm really sorry, but we can't turn back the clock! If we could go back in time we would, but come on! It's three hundred years later! You can't keep blaming the past for all your problems forever!"
"Actually, my husband's family is from around that area," the mom says. "And they're not that concerned with what happened in the past. I mean, yeah, that's part of the issue, in that there are monies that were supposed to be paid every time more land got taken away that were never paid at all, but the real issue they have right now is that their land is still being taken away. For example they're still in litigation right now over the land claims, but the government has given the green light to some contractors to build a new subdivision."
Quick subject change #3. She became a bit quieter after this one, though.
If wisdom's ways you wisely seek,
Five things observe with care:
To whom you speak,
Of whom you speak,
And how, and when, and where.
Nice lady. Really. Talked about our kids, home schooling, etc, the usual "It's nice that we get to spend more time with our kids and they get one-on-one, yadda yadda" interspersed with, "And you look at teachers today - so many are so burned out! And just completely not willing to give even five minutes of time for students who really need it! I mean really, how hard is it, it doesn't take that long to actually, you know, show some care for a student who's struggling, but no, it's 'My coffee break's at recess and don't bother me' - just terrible, really. I wouldn't trust my child to them for any money."
Did the polite Mmhm-let's-change-the-subject thing a few times, did the "Then again some teachers are really dedicated but their hands are tied by things we don't know about," then finally had to begin a sentence with, "Um, well, I wouldn't exactly say that. I mean, it often takes a lot longer than most people would think, to really make a difference to a troubled student. Especially when you've got 25 other students to keep track of. At least, that's what I found when I was working as a teacher."
Subject changed rather rapidly after that one. Eventually started talking about health care. And how you can go to Emerg and they just leave you there, for days on end, "Oh we can't give you a room because don't have any beds available" and then you say "Could somebody please just tell me what's wrong with me?" and it's all "Nope, you've got to wait two months for your MRI, and besides, it's the end of my shift so who cares, I'm going home, you're on your own..."
Again with the polite noises and subtle "look at the other side of the story" until again I had to reply to something she said with, "Yeah, it's frustrating. But then, you know, as my partner said when he was doing his residency, sometimes you've got twelve patients who've been waiting for hours and you know each one would only take you an hour to see, but you realize you've been up for 39 hours and can't actually see straight any more and you're probably going to do more harm than good if you try to do anything else, and you know there's nobody else but you don't really feel like you have a choice about leaving your patients so you can sleep. Especially when you know your next shift starts in six hours."
Another quick subject change.
A while later, Aboriginal issues come up, and another mom says something about the land claims in Caledonia, and new mom starts up again. "Oh I know! You just want to shake these people, don't you? And tell them Look, I know your people were treated badly in the past, and I'm really sorry, but we can't turn back the clock! If we could go back in time we would, but come on! It's three hundred years later! You can't keep blaming the past for all your problems forever!"
"Actually, my husband's family is from around that area," the mom says. "And they're not that concerned with what happened in the past. I mean, yeah, that's part of the issue, in that there are monies that were supposed to be paid every time more land got taken away that were never paid at all, but the real issue they have right now is that their land is still being taken away. For example they're still in litigation right now over the land claims, but the government has given the green light to some contractors to build a new subdivision."
Quick subject change #3. She became a bit quieter after this one, though.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-10-09 07:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-10 08:51 pm (UTC)Yeah, no kidding. She said something else pretty offensive too, but there wasn't anyone there who fit to take personal offense at it so I've forgotten what it was.
I felt bad for snickering about it because I've been in the position of sole newbie too many times and in too many places to not want newbies to feel comfortable in a group I'm part of. But she just stomped into so many social minefields that I couldn't help it. It was funny.
no subject
Date: 2007-10-10 08:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-09 11:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-10 08:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-10 12:54 am (UTC)/catty]
no subject
Date: 2007-10-10 08:55 pm (UTC)/catty]
LOL. Well, almost all the home schoolers I've known have been pretty good at thinking outside the box - they had to, in order to choose to home school in the first place - but yeah, the thought did cross my mind a few times.
no subject
Date: 2007-10-11 12:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-11 03:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-10 04:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-10 09:01 pm (UTC)OMG I KNOW! That kept going through my mind as she talked. Ow ow ow owowow.