Teeth and Tomorrow

Day 58:
The superintendent of LAUSD is likely to push a budget through tomorrow that will cut teachers’ pay this year by four days. That same budget will either contain a 12% pay cut for teachers next year, or else, according to the superintendent, 8,000 employees will loose their job.

In all reality, it’ll probably a combination of both.

As one might expect, teachers throughout the LA area are angry, scared, and a whole host of other things.

I am such a teacher.

My household has already endured a budget crisis – a crisis that removed the Mrs. from her classroom. A crisis that has resulted in the Mrs. having to pick up numerous tutoring jobs because substituting everyday pays nowhere near what she earned as a full-time classroom teacher. A crisis that has resulted in me working as a seasonal sales associate at J.Crew…

Which is where today’s lesson was learned.

In speaking with a co-worker tonight I learned that he has a passion to pursue a career in dentistry. In the ten minutes or so that we talked about his plans, he shared his hopes of going back to school, of becoming a dentist, of providing for his loved ones, and of joining dental charity groups such as Homeless Not Toothless.

I share part of his story with you because as he shared some of it with me it helped me to put into perspective the bigness and balance of life.

Here I am feeling gypped and jaded about the educational arena and the negativity it will once again yield over my life; meanwhile, right in front of me is a guy who’s eager with excitement to pursue his promising, positive future.

Needless to say, the contrast is stark and was nearly deafening.

While realizing the polarity of our positions I became inspired by his optimism - I became refreshed by his reality to come.

Today I learned that all is not dark.