14 April 2005

public school?

ok, i'd like to address two instances of irritation i've had since friday. while driving an suv full of junior high children to the beach this weekend, somewhere between austin and cuero, i discovered that they had no idea who winston churchill was. i was shocked and dismayed. these kids are 6th and 7th graders, who've had social studies since the 2nd grade, and they all go to public school, which means that i pay for their education. and they don't know who winston churchill was. seriously people, what the hell? someone thought he had been in a band, and only one kid knew he "wasn't from here". geeze, louise. then last night, i'm doing one on one conferences with my high school children and i not only have to explain who karl marx was to one child, but i also have to explain the meaning of the word "vernacular" to the same kid. he's a freshman in high school. no idea about karl marx, no idea about basic vocabulary. and yes, this kid is a public school kid. dammit.

someone, please tell me what this means?

i'll be back later with more info...my hair looks fabulous, in case you were wondering.

two new expressions i picked up from friends yesterday that need to be noted in this venue:

"crotchular" in relation to a pant malfunction suffered by one of my girls recently. come on, we've all dealt with this, people.

"galloping dandruff" in relation to a "social disease" one might pick up from a mail order spouse.

see if you can work THOSE little gems into your conversations today, along with the venerable mr. churchill (when is manchester going to write his third volume already?) and vernacular.

end of message, mil besos--r

1 comment:

Beth said...

You should have told that kid that "vernacular" meant "colloquial" just to cause more confusion. Or better yet, you should have told him that it meant "Pick up a book and read it once in a while, stupid." That would have been good. And then you should have told him that Karl Marx was his "real" father, and that Winston Churchill was the original drummer for the New York Dolls. Actually, he would have no idea who the New York Dolls are, so it would be better if you just go with Good Charlotte or some crappy band like that. Cheers!