My tenth grade English teacher was Laura Bush's press secretary for most of our current President's two terms of office and I had never figured out exactly HOW she'd managed it. I received my answer by way of a Google search; she went to college with our current Governor's kids and was active in student government. The governor's children then referred her to the Governor himself some ten years later. She was Governor Riley's Press Secretary for a couple years and then used that position as a springboard for launching her political career on a national scale. Proving, of course, that it's all in who you know. And it certainly helps to be a Republican in Alabama.
Now, I can't imagine how anyone's could think that toiling under this tainted administration as any kind of feather in the cap---even southern belles with minimal competence, just the way W. likes them, apparently.
I, back in 1996, knew the woman as a mediocre teacher, a good assigner of tasks frequently noted on the board and then promptly not followed up with in the following days. Though a competent teacher, personal issues frequently found their way into her lecture. She often told us, her students, in less-than-professional fashion, how desperate she was to find a husband and all of her attempts to find a man. I mean, she's not an unattractive woman, but she had frequent problems with weight gain. Now she looks as though she has the money to dress more expensively, pay for a personal trainer, and show the theatrical gloss that years under the public eye forces one to adapt.
I'll never think that sixteen-year-olds need to be informed about the dating habits of their teachers and I suppose I always will. The woman is a bit of a flake, when you closely examine her. And I have a bit of a personal grudge---I'll always be a little annoyed at her when she didn't know how to properly respond to me when I was at my sickest and most depressed. Maybe I'm asking too much and holding people to too high a standard, but if you can't handle a depressed teenager, one of your English students, I don't know how you can manage the press affairs of the First Lady and the First Daughters. I am thankful for some sympathetic teachers who knew I was depressed and suicidal and directed me in the proper ways. Even more ironic, perhaps her heart was not in instructing teenagers, but she talks about the experience of teaching as though it was the most wonderful thing she'd ever done in her life. Count me as a contrary voice speaking in opposition, from now until forever.
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3 comments:
you are probably expecting too much from her concerning your illness. I've known a lot of teachers who divulge their private life to the students. It's not professional of course but then no one is perfect.
especially with republicans, it helps who you know more so than how talented you are. it's called cronyism and they are pretty good at it.
I liked your John Lennon song :)
Thank you!
And you're right. I just hold people to a very high standard, mostly because I hold myself to a very high standard.
I had one teacher who was sensitive to my sullen angry swings of mood. He knew I had problems and helped me skip my senior year of high school and start college early. I might have merely dropped out otherwise. Still, I have no high school diploma and I didn't get my BA. But I agree that teachers ought to keep their personal problems to themselves or to share it with their close personal friends. Kids have enough to deal with without having to take on a teachers troubles.
Boy, those Bushes sure do like the not quite competent don't they?
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