Hope is the Thing That Is Left to Us, In a Bad Time
Mamacita says: I have discovered another wonderful website: Letters of Note. This site is edited by Shaun Usher, whom I would invite over for dinner every Tuesday and Thursday night if only he knew I existed, but of course he doesn’t, so I can only pay him homage this way.
In March of 1973, E. B. White — the author responsible for such books as Stuart Little and Charlotte’s Web — received a letter from a Mr. Nadeau, who sought his opinion on what he saw as a bleak future for the human race. White responded with the following, beautifully written letter.
(Source: Letters of E. B. White, edited by Dorothy Lobrano Guth; Image: E.B. White, courtesy of Wikimedia.)
North Brooklin, Maine
30 March 1973
Dear Mr. Nadeau:
As long as there is one upright man, as long as there is one compassionate woman, the contagion may spread and the scene is not desolate. Hope is the thing that is left to us, in a bad time. I shall get up Sunday morning and wind the clock, as a contribution to order and steadfastness.
Sailors have an expression about the weather: they say, the weather is a great bluffer. I guess the same is true of our human society—things can look dark, then a break shows in the clouds, and all is changed, sometimes rather suddenly. It is quite obvious that the human race has made a queer mess of life on this planet. But as a people we probably harbor seeds of goodness that have lain for a long time waiting to sprout when the conditions are right. Man’s curiosity, his relentlessness, his inventiveness, his ingenuity have led him into deep trouble. We can only hope that these same traits will enable him to claw his way out.
Hang on to your hat. Hang on to your hope. And wind the clock, for tomorrow is another day.
Sincerely,
(Signed, ‘E. B. White’)
Now, readers, if you would, please, run like bloody hell over to Letters of Note, and feast on it. While you’re there, get Shaun’s Twitter and tell him you love him. And that next Thursday, we’re having meatballs and brown rice.
Plutarch Nailed It.
Mamacita says: Guess what.
Not every student is ‘more alert’ in the mornings. Believe it or not, many students are nearly comatose early in the morning and their brains spring into action later in the day. This is not always a result of staying up late playing video games, etc. Some people are just wired for night. I’ve often wondered how different standardized test scores would be, if our students were allowed to take them at night instead of so early in the morning. Dawn. You know, when a lot of old people administrators are awake.
I’ve read that while younger children are still usually early risers, the average high school student would greatly benefit from school from noon till six. (This article says that even 8:30 a.m. would be a step in the right direction, but that wouldn’t have helped me much.)
But noon? That would have been so wonderful for a kid like me. Even better, for a kid like me, would have been high school from 3 till 9. P.M. I would have been wide awake and alert and ready to learn.
Sadly, such scheduling would not be possible for a variety of reasons, most of them stupid, such as some old principal saying “We’ve never done anything like that before.” Or some old coach saying, “When would we practice?” Like I care about that. (You can play games in the morning. From 7:30 till noon. You know, when you’re more alert.)
The most insidious reason of all, the reason many schools can’t have after-school programs, the reason many schools can’t have field trips during the day, the reason many schools can’t have after-school detention, and the reason many kids can’t stay after school for ANY reason, good or bad. . . .
. . . is because of the bus schedules. They are carved in stone.
I am not putting down bus drivers in any way. Many of them are working two jobs, and can only drive a bus during certain hours of the day. I am, however, totally putting down the mentality that can’t seem to separate convenience of scheduling from welfare of student population. Hire more drivers. Split up the routes. We all have to make adjustments in our jobs when circumstances force us to; heaven knows I did. When are we going to make adjustments in our school day?
Another issue, of course, is the sad fact that many families rely on older kids to take care of the younger ones after school. Sigh. A different schedule would knock that into a cocked hat.
Employers would have to make a few changes, too. But what’s the difference, really, between a fast-food shift of 5-9 and 6:30-10? Some adult would get an extra hour and a half’s pay?
And, of course, many administrators are getting up there, age-wise. And old people keep early hours. Again, so what?
Teachers with young children? That’s a hard one, because I used to be one of those. But I adjusted for various schedules and so can anyone else. In this town, anyway, there are lots of daycare and sitters who are happy to work later in the evening. Not everyone shuts down at three!!!!!
But again. Adjustments for the sake of our kids. Why are they so hard to make?
Honestly. Sometimes I agree with Plutarch.
“Being about to pitch his camp in a likely place, and hearing there was no hay to be had for the cattle, ‘What a life,’ said he, ‘is ours, since we must live according to the convenience of asses!’ ”
What brought all of this up? My students today were talking about how wonderful it would have been to go to high school and be alert. It’s not that they didn’t try to be alert. It’s just that for some people, 7:30 in the morning is NO time to be talking about algebra.
I am one of those people.
My name is Mamacita, and I am a night owl.
There are many like me, and we have no rights.
Call the ACLU immediately.
(I have a hard enough time talking about grammar at nine thirty. But my night classes? My 2:00 classes? I’m on top of those, and I even remember what we’ve done in them.)
Equal rights for vampires! Support the ERV!
And how about putting our kids first, for a change?
Playground Politics? Really.
Mamacita says: Let’s start the New Year with some opinionated rants.
I am not an A-list blogger/social network updater.
I’ve always been more than just a little bit quirky and nerdy, and I still am. I don’t care. I’ve never been cool. Not then, not now. I don’t care. (much)
In my Reader/friend list/etc. are people whose writing I read regularly. Are they A-listers? I don’t know. I don’t care, either. They are people I like, and even love, with blogs/updates/etc. I find interesting.
Would I delete any of them, and replace them with A-list people, so there would be nothing but the cool kids in my Reader/Facebook/Twitter/etc.? No. Why would I do that? I don’t blog to be cool. (good thing, huh.) I blog because “it’s” in me and “it” wants to get out. My blog is like a friend. It’s THERE for me. And since I went all WordPress, it really IS always there for me. I also blog for businesses. I go all watchdog on their comments, too, but I only delete the spams, robots, and obvious sales pitches.
The people in my Reader are friends. They listen. I listen. They help. I help. We laugh and we cry and we are THERE for each other. I include all my business blogs in the same Reader – you might be surprised at the connections to be made that way.
What, she mixes business and pleasure? She does indeed. Much of the time, too.
She considers her clients to be a kind of friend? She does that, too.
The Blogosphere is full of friends, seen and unseen, business and pleasure. Both kinds are real. I consider them all to be real life friends.
Sometimes we pick our friends and sometimes they pick us. (insert crack about picking nose here) This holds true wherever we go. The internet is a place to go. There are lovely people there. There are also some awful people here. You know, just like in real life. That’s because the Blogosphere IS real life.
Delete an active blog from my Reader? Delete someone who comments sincerely? Delete a real person, someone who isn’t a robot, and who updates/comments in real time? Why would I do that? Why would I pare down a list for my personal convenience at the expense of possibly hurting someone’s feelings?
Nobody can ever have too many friends. And I’m still discovering treasures out there. Why would I stop mining for gold just because I found some already? In fact, if anyone is reading this and you know I don’t know you yet, tell me. I’m happy to meet you, and of COURSE you can sit with us.
Sometimes I read about a blogger going through his/her Reader/Twitter/Facebook/etc. and weeding out anyone who isn’t considered ‘popular’ by other bloggers, or who isn’t, apparently, useful enough. Some bloggers only want to hang out with the A-group. I can only assume they were like that in high school, too, and haven’t grown out of it yet, still, in real life. And I find this attitude sad, and even. . . . sick. Okay, the word I’m actually thinking of is “pompous.”
I am not an A-list blogger. I’m often one of the first to be cut. That’s fine. Populate your feeds with well-known A-table people and see how many comments you get – that aren’t strictly business – from them. See how much advice and support you get. See how they will get to know you personally, and want to hang out with you. And when you comment on some of those A-list blogs. . . . oh, but wait a minute. Some of those blogs don’t ALLOW comments.
Don’t you get it? REAL bloggers welcome comments, and not just from people they know. Not from spammers or morons, but from real people who take notice and care. Many of those A-list blogs aren’t even real blogs any more; they’re just webpages with articles and self-promotion and speaking engagements.
Preaching to the choir is fine if you really don’t want to learn anything new from someone who isn’t already IN the choir.
But that’s okay. You’ve a right to please yourself; we all do. So delete everybody who isn’t ‘somebody.’ And yes, I know, that would be me. Go ahead.
That’s not how I do this, but we are all different. Sometimes, discovering just HOW different, in certain ways, is more than just a little bit disillusioning.
Sometimes it’s a LOT of disillusioning.
Do we EVER get to leave high school, I mean completely? Why is this nonsense still going on, and why is it still bothering me?
But it is. And it does. I wish I could say it didn’t, but it does. It even, kinda, you know, hurts.
But that’s okay. I understand. I’ll just take my plate lunch and go sit at another table.
You sit there and wait for the cheerleaders and the jocks and the student council president and the homecoming queen and people who can do something for you, and while you’re waiting for them, the rest of us will be sitting over HERE. And we will be having way more fun than you.
What do I know. I’m not cool.
But I know what the “social” in “social media” means. And it doesn’t mean excluding people. Well, unless they’re proven sociopaths, axe murderers, compulsive liars, dirty rotten scoundrels (although some of those guys are kinda fun), simpering morons, people who get in the “20 items or fewer” with a mounded cartful, or sissy sparkly vampires. (brooding vampires welcome.)
Move over, B-table friends. It’s my deal. Double-bid, no-trump, high-low euchre, coming right up. Pass the SweeTarts. And yes, we’re all really listening.
