The People Have Spoken.

Due to lack of comment option, I will respond to emails about "The O.C." here: I am giving it another chance. It better impress me next week. But, I did get not one, not two, but four emails telling me that Wednesday's episode was a "uncharacteristically bad" and "stinky caca-episode".

For my one class this month (it's Winter Study -- the most wonderful time of the year) I'm taking a course that pairs us up with a social worker or attorney or someone otherwise involved in the Juvenile Court system. Since I am going to be teaching in the low-income community of Baltimore next year -- wait, did I even mention that before?? I'm teaching in BALTIMORE next year -- I figured it would be interesting to pair up with a social worker and get an idea of what I might be able to expect. Not that Pittsfield, MA are all that similar to Baltimore, MD but...

Anyway, I sort of want to strangle the guy I was paired up with. He is the epitome of the sad story of someone who may have started the job with optimism and the desire to fix things, but who has long since resigned himself -- thereby dragging down the children under his care. This is a direct quote (I had my journal with me and wrote it down when he left the room): "You'll find that lots of these kids are so bad that you need to stick 'em in jail for a little bit -- let them have their food taken away from someone bigger, let them get assaulted while behind bars -- just so they try to be better once they're out."

So that's "rehabilitation". And these are the people that are supposed to be looking out for the children of Pittsfield. Now I'm all worked up...I'm going to make some tea. Back later with update.