I hear tell this week that for t
he third straight year the least desirable (professional) job in America is newspaper reporter.
Though I totally agree with the economic reasons, I also believe the job of substitute teacher can give it a run for its money (pun intended). I’ve done both, so I think I know what I’m talking (or writing) about.
What prompted me to make this observation is yet another instance of a sub being treated just like a bottom feeder, a low life, getting little or no respect. This instance was reported last week from Harper Creek Middle School, where a substitute art teacher was fired for uttering the word “vagina” while explaining a controversial piece of art by Georgia O’Keefe. After reading the story, my mind wandered back to 1925 with the Scopes Monkey Trial and then fast forwarded to 2012 to yet another silly debate in the State Legislature.
The Scopes trial was the story of a young man who was fired for teaching Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. At least Scopes had a regular full-time job and his name continues to be etched in history as a victim of fear and ignorance.
Yet the Harper Creek sub also is a victim of fear and ignorance. She used the proper word to describe a female body part.
When I was a bottom feeder sub, I used to arouse many frowns from full-time teachers and school officials because when the kids asked me to be excused to “go pee” or “go poop,” I would correct them by saying, “You mean you are going to eliminate liquid waste” or “you will be eliminating solid waste.” Sometimes I would insist they say instead that they would be “defecating.”
My behavior was considered inappropriate by some, yet I believed the students should use better manners when they tell all their classmates what they were about to do.
Proper word usage for body parts, regardless of where they are located, should never be grounds for firing. But Harper Creek officials, besides being over the top on political correctness, showed their utter disrespect for a substitute teacher. School officials later went as far to say there had been other problems with this sub teacher, which amounted to nothing more than lying to excuse the stupid and laughable thing they had done, which made the situation even more reprehensible.
The word “vagina” also was bandied about one day in Lansing four years ago when a female legislator, while protesting a proposed anti-abortion bill, declared her colleagues were too interested in her vagina. She was prohibited by House Speaker Jase Bolger (of election rigging fame with Roy Schmidt) from speaking the rest of the day.
Even an old friend, State Rep. Mike Callton, announced that day he couldn’t utter that word in mixed company and he rightly became the butt of jokes nationally.
So the word “vagina” was able to bring out the worst knee jerks from people who normally are not idiots.
Back to newspaper reporter. I did that for a long time, and the only reasons why that job is no longer desirable are that the pay is too low and they are no longer in demand.
Substitute teachers, judging by the signs I see so often outside of school buildings, ARE in high demand, but pay is low and they aren’t even respected as well as Rodney Dangerfield.
I speak from experience and I want to send best wishes to the sub who got a raw deal from Harper Creek.