There is a James Thurber story by that title..and we are re-creating it here! Meg laid down on the bed to read Ryan a bedtime story, and the bed gave way. In its defense, that bed is almost as old as I am. My parents bought the set when I was very young. The wood is dried out and brittle. It was repaired once, a year or so ago...and now this. Meg will be sleeping upside down or something until we can get it fixed again. Never a dull moment!
Looks like we'll be taking a trip to Muncie on Sunday to pick up some things--meaning renting a truck and finding friends to help. Apparently, there was an earlier miscommunication about what was to be removed from the house there. I'm not sure it has totally been resolved... I'm not sure I have the energy!
Okay...here's my "take" on the school shooter in Virginia. A friend of mine says that the school was negligent, big time. I say that there is no way that the school could have notified everyone of a problem, even if they had recognized that there was one. The man bought his guns legally. His teachers and classmates recognized he was a risk and went to authorities, multiple times. When the original shooting happened at the dormitory, even if everyone felt there was risk at the rest of the campus, how does an institution get that word out? Thousands commute. Some live on campus; some live off. Who knew that a shooting on campus would turn into a bloodbath two hours later? Even if they suspected, how would they have gotten the word out to everyone to stay away?
My students were incredulous that someone didn't take the guy down. I said that he stood at the doorway of the classroom and shot. Who was going to be the hero? It's not until everyone understands exactly what is going on (which almost never happens in the beginning of a crisis) that people can think clearly enough to respond.
The upshot (forgive the term) of all of this is that we can make our schools and our homes safe, but it will cost big time $$. Everyone in an organization would need to be in possession of a pager or an alert systerm that was instantaneous. (NOT related to cell phones!) We simply cannot anticipate everything. And since I work in a school system, I worry about that a lot. One of my darling students wrote "kill" and "die" on his knuckles today. He got a ticket to the counselor. Should he be banned from school? He was in tears thinking he might be expelled. I don't think so... He is just a sorry-ass kid who hasn't figured out that Monrovia, Indiana, can't protect him from the real world.
Yesterday, I told my students the story of one of my kids, years ago, who got in trouble and came into my classroom saying, "I'd like to blow this place up." I was pretty sure he didn't mean it...and I was pretty sure that he wouldn't do anything like that...but I reported him. My students gasped, "Why?" Well...duh! If he HAD come back to blow things up, someone would have said, "Ms. McNary heard him say it and she didn't do anything about it." End of explanation. I hope I got through...
Mike, hope you are feeling better after your tumble. Ryan, I'll be in touch. Apparently, my "son-in-law" will be picking the children up at the day care in Plainfield tomorrow for the weekend. It will be both a challenge and a relief.
God bless the children...
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