Roger and I were discussing today's events tonight and he laughed and said, "You're a snitch." When he saw my instant pouty face, he immediately said, "I'm just kidding!", but I know there was some truth behind his statement. So my question is, when is it o.k. to snitch?
Event #1- actually happened late last week. One evening, I was taking a nap in the guest bedroom, which shares a wall with the next apartment. I wasn't actually sleeping, but that's mostly because of the thumping music that was coming from our neighbor. When my blood pressure finally reached a certain level, and after pounding on the wall to no avail, I finally decided it was time to get up. A few days later, Roger and I were eating on the couch and I heard the same bass thumping. So, I asked him to say something to the front desk.
Event #2- so, last night was our Night at the Cathedral, hosting the two homeless families. I woke up every hour because the homeless people in the park outside our room kept fighting and yelling at each other, but I thought everything was well inside the church. Well around 5:30 a.m., I was awakened by one of the mothers yelling while talking to her daughter. She was cursing and speaking about the other mother who apparently had accused the first mother's son of wandering the halls during the night. I made my way to the kitchen where they were standing to try to diffuse the situation, and when she saw me, her demeanor immediately changed. She greeted me, wished me well, and shuffled her children out into the morning darkness. So, when I returned home from work this evening, I called the church's coordinator for the program to ask if everything was in good order when she arrived this morning, and to apprise her of the situation, as these families will be returning to the church this evening and for the rest of the week.
Event #3- today was my most challenging day substitute teaching so far. I went to a new school where there was only one white child and one Latin child in all three classes. Race is not the issue, but the rough and rowdy demeanor of the children certainly was an issue. After scanning the roster for each class, I had only ever seen two of the names before, so I advised as I took roll, "I'm sure I'm going to mispronounce your names. In fact, my first name is Doanyelle, so people mispronounce my name all the time and it's no fun. So if I say your name wrong, please don't be offended." As I continued to try to call roll, every time I butchered a name, the students roared and shouted out the correct pronunciations. Then, as I advised what the work would be for the lesson, everyone kept talking and walking around. I could feel veins popping in my neck. I did everything from training- I walked around, I took names, etc, etc, etc. Anyway, what got me through was knowing that today my classes changed every hour and twenty minutes. Each class, though, progressively got worse as the day went on. Finally, five minutes before I was due to leave for the day, I started lining up the students. As I did, one special young lady yelled, "F*** you Nigg***!" Holy wow! What was that? So, I went over to her and explained that we will not use that type of language and I would be making a note for her teacher. "I don't care!", she said, and turned to face her classmates and said again, "N**gers!" Sigh.
So, as I was delivering the students to the last teacher, I told her about the child's behavior. She told me I had to write a referral and handed me the form. So I completed it and turned it in.
So, I snitched in all three instances. Is this bad? Should I have handled any of the situations in a different way? Any thoughts? What would you have done?
Oh, and one last note: This sign was hanging in the classroom today:
You are somebody, a human being- no better, no worse than anybody else in this world.
Gettin' someplace special is not an easy route. But don't study on quittin', just keep walking
striaght ahead- and you'll make it.
I don't like this message at all. To me it say's you're not special, life is hard, don't give up, just keep your head down and you'll make it in life. Does anyone else see it that way? Why not say instead, "You are so special and unique. Life is hard, but you can accomplish anything with hard work and determination!"
That's all for today. Here's a song.
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