Sunday morning, coffee in hand, and little Sambo sitting on the desk looking out the window at the crow on the telephone line. A cloudy but relatively warm morning. 58 degrees in November. Sweet.
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Yesterday I visited the local library book cellar. Scanning the shelves, looking for bargains, I didn't find anything I really wanted, but ended up buying a couple of hunting magazines for a quarter a piece. Funny, I felt obligated to explain to the older lady volunteer checking out my purchase, that it really was NOT for me, I was just thinking of my neighbor. "Rack" Magazine with big horned antlers on the front. Hopefully no porn inside. I didn't really look through it much.
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I worked at the library when I was 14 years old. A couple of years of Monday to Thursday night 5 - 9 shifts and an 8 hour stretch on Saturdays if I could get the hours. I was so excited to have that job. It was a chance to get out of the house and actually see people. Once in a while, other than simply putting away books and magazines, or refiling them, I could substitute for the front desk check out person and that was the high profile, more grown up type work. At least from a 14 year old's perspective. I liked library work so much that in college I also worked in the library, mostly in Periodicals. I got to look at all the new magazines and separate them, and in winter I'd look forward to having morning tea with the lovely library lady who supervised Periodicals downstairs in the basement. I learned a lot of life lessons from that very intelligent woman. Thank you Shirley, looking down from above now.
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It is in this frame of mind I came home from my library trip yesterday to see that Newt Gingrich wants poor children to clean schools for money.
"It is tragic what we do in the poorest neighborhoods, entrapping children in child laws which are truly stupid," Gingrich said. "Saying to people you shouldn't go to work before you're 14, 16. You're totally poor, you're in a school that's failing with a teacher that's failing."
HOLD THE BUS! Did he really mean he wants children younger than 14 to work? All this in the midst of dissing teachers...and later...suggesting we fire all the janitors (union, of course) and replace them with poor kids?-Pause for outrage.-Really. That's going to make America so much more on par with China. Really. Let the 10 year old's scrub toilets, while the ones from "better" families sit around and make fun of the poor kids in their spare time.
"Hey Toilet boy? Wassup? you missed some funky stuff around the urinal..."
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Newt, this is one of the dumbest, cruel, out of touch ideas I have ever heard. Yeah, I worked at 14... and I wanted to do that. But I also remember my dad telling me, "Are you really SURE you want to do this? Once you start working, you will work for the rest of your life." He said that with a touch of sadness. Almost like he knew my fate beforehand....or something. Knew that I wouldn't hit the lottery, or marry a rich man. Wanted me to have a few more years of timeless days. Not having to be somewhere in the summers. Time to read, paint, enjoy my youth. Because adulthood hits too quickly and the responsibilities are endless.
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Yeah, dad. You were right. I'm still working. I somehow wish I could relive that 13th year's summer, knowing what I know now. That was the last real summer.
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Newt, little kids should be little kids. Maybe instead of a 250 thousand dollar credit line at Tiffany's you could
be using your money to help disadvantaged kids. Instead of bashing teachers, help come up with incentives that work to make schools better.
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