She's got the look!

I have to share this story from my friend Sarah. If you have ever been a school teacher, you know that “the look” is an art-form unto itself. When combined with “the voice”, adults can be reduced to jello or suffer flashbacks…or both. Wouldn’t it be nice if all politicians had to earn a degree in education (K-12) as opposed to majoring in law or poly-sci? That degree comes with a semester of time spent working in a real classroom, with real children, who have real issues. The other adults who work there have issues too but most of those are discussed in “the teachers’ lounge”, that mysterious place behind a closed door that no students dare enter. 

Do our adult lives ever really progress beyond elementary school? Most of the time, I think not. We remain in a stunted level of social development even though we consider ourselves “grownups”. Consider the following and see if you agree…

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Snacks and naptime….we all still crave one in the mid afternoon (even if we don’t admit it out loud). Why else advertise those mini energy shots on TV?

Passing notes and reading illicit comic books during class is no different than today’s FB surfing or under the meeting table texting.

Clothing – This area has so deteriorated over the years that many people look like they come to work on a “childhood sick day” in jammies and flip flops. Just today I saw a newspaper photo of people on a picket line, in their flip flops. Really? Try dressing a bit more professionally and perhaps you will be taken a bit more seriously. Do you ever see lawyers, real estate agents or nurses coming to work in flip flops? Best to stop this rant right now, the subject of your knarly toes before breakfast is not a good idea. 

Math….most of us probably do not use “number problems” anymore, but those pesky “story problems” show up all the time. For example, dividing Halloween candy between siblings…..

The lunch table…is alive and well and thriving unfortunately. Cliques, social labels, bullying etc….. never goes away no matter how old we get. Such things only get new names, or diagnoses or a sitcom, but won’t ever be resolved. I think it is because we don’t really want to solve such things, what is life without some drama? Too many people make a living off of this issue. Not many people would admit to wanting to read and view only those stories about sunshine, roses, and lollipops, not to mention unicorns that eat rainbows and poop butterflies (inside joke….). Sorry, another rant to table for now. 

Okay, on to Sarah’s story which I am posting without permission but since it was on FB, that is good enough for me. 

“Steve and I joke about giving people the "teacher death look." I just returned from the BV area post office where I not only gave the look, but also the lecture. After scraping months of glue off of tables, and getting cut off in traffic on the way to the post office, this lady walked right up past all the people in line and stepped in front of me (I was up next). I normally would be like "Whatever. You must have issues." But this time, I stepped forward, turned my head, gave her the look and said "Do you see me standing here?" "DID you see me standing here?" After she said yes to both, I asked "Do you see all these people in line behind me? They were here before you as well. If you would like to get to this point in the line, you need to go BACK to the end of the line and GET in line." She did.”

Seeing that her posting got 34 comments and 59 thumbs up as of my posting, I can only say that it sounds like a movement may be begging to begin….”Occupy the Eye”  shall we say. If you have ever raised kids, especially boys, the “look” comes in quite handy. Girls on the other hand tend to figure out how to give it right back so it must be a genetic thing. Since I have to swing by the post office today, I am now going to go upstairs and practice my “teacher’s eye” in the mirror as mine might be a bit rusty since this is year 22 of maternity leave.