Polyester White Trash Made In Nowhere

I was listening to this song this morning on the way to work. I was reflecting on the fact that I haven't been feeling charitable or compassionate about certain situations lately. The most pressing situation being at work where persons outside the education department somehow feel like they have the knowledge and authority to tell me how and when I should teach my classes. Um...yea...there's a very small number of people with those credentials and they tend to leave me the hell alone cuz I tend to know what the hell I'm doing. See? I'm cussing already. Compassion right out the window. It's been an ongoing battle that is supremely frustrating and exhausting.

So I've been doing some self-reflecting to see how better I can manage this type of thing. I'm up against ignorance and power-plays. Isn't that always the case? I know there's not a whole lot I can do to change these people, I can only manage myself and my reactions to their onslaughts.

That by no means I've achieved any success in that area. I'm still fuming.

So anywho, I'm sitting at a red light in the left-hand turn lane this morning, trying to meditate on the words, "Take these hands, teach them what to carry...Take this mouth, so quick to criticize, take this mouth, give it a kiss...." and a guy in a little black car wants to butt into the lane right in front of me. Before I even have a chance to curse him or get mad, he rolls down his window and asks me, please, may he jump in? How could I get mad at that? Of course I let him in. Manners are a thing of beauty. I try to teach my boys at school, manners and hygiene will get you far in life. So I felt a tiny bit of grace as I waved the guy in.

Didn't feel it much the rest of the day.

Marilyn sent me The Pope's email address. "Dear Your Holiness, I'm a new Catholic, how should I handle people who try to impinge upon my domain?" I just happened to watch a little bit of a program on The History Channel this morning about The Reformation. The Pope might not be the best person to ask advice about that topic. Doh!