Made it through yet another year of secondary school teaching. Funny how people are always eager to pigeonhole you at a first meeting. .."And what do you do?" Why should work matter so much to us? I have made it a point never to ask anyone what they do to earn money. If it comes out then fair enough but whenever I hear that question... "And what do you do?" I want to say, "Well I lie on my back watching swallows dance in the air a
nd I make up songs, take photographs, travel to new places with eager delight, stay up too late almost every night, cook mean stir frys which I eat with my family and I try to make sense of this life I'm living, hanging on to happiness and all the things that are important to me, like tomorrow..." And you know sometimes I do say things like that, not bothering if I'm breaking the usual social code where people are characterised via notions of the jobs they do. So what if I am a teacher?
nd I make up songs, take photographs, travel to new places with eager delight, stay up too late almost every night, cook mean stir frys which I eat with my family and I try to make sense of this life I'm living, hanging on to happiness and all the things that are important to me, like tomorrow..." And you know sometimes I do say things like that, not bothering if I'm breaking the usual social code where people are characterised via notions of the jobs they do. So what if I am a teacher?Besides, many people think they know all there is to know about teaching because they once sat in classrooms. They don't know the half of it. Great, it's my holiday! Teacher's rest! But next week I will be back at work all week, making lists, ordering books, tidying up, turfing out old folders, salvaging worksheets, labelling boxes of exam papers, making policies and action plans etc.. How many other British workers go to work in their holidays?
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Hi there! I really enjoy your blog-- I like that you take the time to recognize and acknowledge life (whether on holiday or not!), especially the more humble aspects. Quite refreshing!
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine is a Quaker and though I don't know much about this branch of Christianity your post reminds me of something he told me about their meetings.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to not having a stated leader, the meetings are rather free-form and anyone can get up to speak. And although his group of Friends has been meeting for years, questions of "what do you do for a living?" never come up. No one asks, no one offers, and everyone's fine with that. All that matters is what kind of person you are and what you have to say.