Most of My Co-Workers Suck Ass

One of the traits I admire most in people is compassion. Something that constantly amazes me is the limited capacity for compassion that so many people have. The lit teacher on our team (I'll call her Crusty) is one of those people. Let me begin by telling you that she was raised in a very upper-middle class home, with her parents happily married and employed in white collar jobs. She grew up in an upscale suburb, attended church weekly, and her parents bought her a new car when she turned 16. She is now married to a man who farms and has inherited A LOT of money, and they have a lovely 14 month old son. I believe that this is a wonderful background, and that someone who comes from this setting should be able to see how blessed they are and want others to have the same, right? Apparently not. On several occasions, I've been irritated by her lack of understanding for the culture most of our kids come from. I usually keep my mouth shut and pray that she will open her heart. Yesterday, she pushed me past my limit. She was asking when Marcus would be coming back, that he had had more than enough time to "get over it". I was shocked, and asked her to repeat it. She stated that "He's probably just sitting around the house watching TV. He needs to be in class".

I was shocked- first he gets his girlfriend pregnant, then she has an abortion...HE'S 14... that's a lot for a grown man to deal with. I've also heard rumors that he's hospitalized right now, although I do not have confirmation. I tried again, "How can you say that? He's always been a good student, not someone to shirk his work- obviously something is really wrong". She again insisted that he should be back in school. I tried to explain that not everyone has been taught the coping skills that she has, and it does take some people longer to deal with trauma than others. She again insisted he was just being lazy. I tried to talk, and she cut me off (this is a habit of hers). I gathered my papers and left, saying over my shoulder, "I don't feel that it's my place to judge someone else's pain, and I refuse to listen to others do it". I was so angry that my voice shook. The stupid bitch that I hate was in complete agreement with her, and I wanted to kick the shit out of both of them. The other two teachers were trying to stay out of it. Crusty was already on my nerves for the following:

One of the girls on our team has filed sexual harassment charges on C. She claims he was smacking her ass. Let me tell you- she is straight out of parochial school, and has a really superior attitude to everyone. She can't figure me out, and is continuously trying to crawl up my ass. She is the ultimate teacher's pet- you know, the type of kid that I could do without. She reminds me very much of Rev. Lovejoy's wife on the Simpsons- very "holier than thou". She has been telling me that C is cursing behind my back, which may or may not be true. Honestly, I don't give a rat's ass- the kid has more serious problems. The counselor that I like was asked to mediate, and after he talked to C, he talked with me. He said C told him that I could attest that he avoids the girl (he does), but that for whatever reason, C thought I believed her over him. Now, when she told me, I did send her to talk to someone in the office- that is my legal obligation. However, at the time, I doubted her story. Without going into the whole thing- she has been desperately trying to push C out of my good graces. When we were discussing this, Crusty said she hoped that they would expel C. I said, "we don't know for a fact that it's true...innocent until proven guilty, right?" She said that she didn't believe that the girl would ever lie because she is a good Christian. I asked why her religion should matter, and did we know for a fact that C was not a 'good Christian'. She laughed like I was an idiot. What it boils down to is that C is more difficult, so she doesn't want him in her class. I really wish I could just wait for her after school and settle this the way our kids would...maybe if she lived in their world for a few minutes, she would get a whole new perspective on things. So many people are lucky that they didn't meet me when I was 19... I would have kicked her ass without even thinking twice. Now, I'm left meditating for her to find compassion.

May we all find peace- have a great weekend!