respite?

We left school three days early to attend a wedding. This is strictly taboo, but my Bitter Half's administrator, sensing his breaking point, put in a good word to the superintendent. We did the only sensible thing we could as a result: we drank ourselves stupid in a vain attempt to drown out the school year. This is not something we could've accomplished if not for the guise of a wedding; we needed the rationale. Nor is this something I expect to do often; we are fast approaching the age of no return, when health issues become a concern and hangovers come more easily and stick around longer. Our twenties are nowhere in sight.

As a finale to a horrendously stressful year, my young friend who is leaving the profession after a mere 182 days of Hell had a terrible curve ball flung her way: another teacher had permitted a bashing session of her by their mutual students. If not for a sensible young lass with her trusty MP3 player, the whole thing would've gone down as nasty hearsay instead of the lawsuit-fodder it is. God, I hate being non-union in this profession. To top it off, the teacher in question was my friend's mentor teacher! With mentors like these, who needs vindictive students? This is the pinnacle of unprofessional, downright catty behavior. It used to be that those who left the teaching profession early on did so because they were not cut out to teach; now they are leaving in droves because of the unholy trinity of Mainstreaming, Lack of Support and Downright Shitty Salaries. Toss in a little NCLB and you have remaining a tiny pool of martyrs and mugwumps. The latter would leave if they could find a reason-- any reason. The former grit their teeth and take the hits for everyone, latent guilt rippling just beneath the surface of their thick skins.

Of course, I cannot survive financially without teaching Summer School, so there'll be plenty more fodder starting next week. Both of my readers should be pleased to hear this.