Don’t Hate the Player, Hate the Game

I toyed with the idea of using the word “Playa” instead of “Player” in the above title, but that it was a bit much. Sometimes slightly clever is better than hitting-you-over-the-head clever and since I have been told that I enjoy beating metaphors to death, I decided to err on the side of underwhelming. But I digress…

Before I begin – Happy Belated Veteran’s Day to everyone! I hope you all enjoyed the day whether you had it off or not and took some time to remember the reason why we have Veteran’s Day to begin with. (Hint: the answer is NOT about sales at the mall, sleeping late, or that parades are fabulous.)

Even though I no longer have a classroom to go to every morning (Pause to collect myself…this is still a harsh reality for me to deal with.) (Because the reality now is that I only have the space in my home which I lovingly call Dissertation Station although perhaps I should just cal it what it is…the Sit-and-Stare-at-the-Wall-Waiting-for-Data-Driven-Genius-To-Strike-Station, but that’s not as snazzy. Plus I like rhyming so Dissertation Station it is.), I still hope for my other teacher friends and former Super Colleagues to enjoy their well deserved day off. (Unless you didn’t get the day off, in which case I am sorry, hope you had a great day with your friends and enjoyed your mandatory assembly.)

Yes, I said well deserved. Because it is. (THAT just happened.)

I say “enjoy” and I also say “well-deserved” because teachers didn’t ask for the day off and they certainly do deserve it! Don’t you, you non-teacher who also thinks of themselves as a hard worker and perhaps you are, enjoy getting a day off now and then? Don’t you also think you deserve a day off from time to time? (May I remind you that this is not an opening for you to say something assinine such as, “But teachers have a MILLION days off!” or “Yeah, but I didn’t go into my career for the summers off” because we wouldn’t want this post to take a violent turn for the worse now would we? I mean, I’m sure you work hard too and with your added responsibility surely comes added monetary compensation. Am I right? Good for you! That must be lovely! Sadly, we teachers can only see miles of added responsibility on the horizon yet not a dime in sight. Oh, maybe the occassional left over birthday cupcake, but money, no, none of that. So we take what we can and relish our bonus days off.

These holidays off are just that. Bonuses. Or at least I always pretended it was a bonus which recognized the fact that I had more work than I was physically capable of completing in one day.

Earlier I admitted to my sad reality regarding my dissertation…and really, the reality for many of YOU out there is that you spent your day off holed up in your home correcting papers, working on lesson plans or finalizing report card grades. Am I right or am I left? So I guess the only bonus that is left in this scenario is that perhpas you finally got to catch up on everythign and do it with your pajamas and a cup of tea (or in fabulous high heels you wouldn’t dare teach in all day and a cocktail…your choice). Either way, I hope you walked into school today with a refreshed attitude and a little extra sleep. (And if you’re a huge nerd like I am/was, clutching several new color-coded lists and a plan book full of a rainbow of post its and ideas.)

Happy Belated Veteran’s Day! I hope you enjoyed it.