The Color Vermilion

 

vermilion - noun - a brilliant red color (Google)

For whatever reason, lately I've been noticing colors, red in particular. Yes, I've been seeing red, but mainly in the positive sense. Perhaps it is because it is autumn in the New York area, and the trees that are still managing to hang on to their leafy headdresses are modeling their most brilliant hues, vermilion being one since the Japanese maple is common in these parts. Two days before Thanksgiving, the retail store owners are busily preparing for the upcoming holiday season, displaying garlands of Fraser fir, garnished with vermilion ribbons to festoon the tops of the in-store cases. Even the winter wreaths that droop from up high on the street lamps sport smiling vermilion bowties. Like a narcissist, red likes to be noticed.

Yet vermilion isn't seasonal. The ubiquitous signs of red generally exist to warn not to forewarn. But are we beings who are inured to the color becoming immune to their attempts to control our actions? I often think we are, intentionally or unintentionally. For instance, there is a huge vermilion plaque that is posted next to the pool in my health club. It reads: "Shower Before Entering" or something to that effect. It is large enough to be viewed and ignored. Seriously, I think people see it and do the opposite, thinking it is just a suggestion, not a command. Heck, even I ignore it because it has a dictatorial attitude that is off putting. Yet the belligerent majority goes unpunished since the apathetic lifeguards dressed in matching red T-shirts don't enforce it. Maybe they should because I've noticed that the dirt littering the concrete bottom of the pool is becoming more and more apparent. Maybe I'll set an example and obey the signage if only to be rebellious. Other vermilion signs are meant to direct traffic accordingly, and I have witnessed oblivion in regard to them as well. Yes, I'm talking about the stop signs and the red lights at intersections. Running these might cause vehicular injuries or deaths, and does; however, some still don't respond to vermilion posts. And they should even if it is inconvenient. 

In this busy world filled with complications and distractions, it is hard to stay on track, hard to see the vermilion sign posts that exist to save us from ourselves. Despite being human, wanting to change the course of history by not following the rules, we just have to sometimes because in doing so, the greater good becomes better, healthier, safer. I am hoping to live to see more in the way of red. Just sayin'. 

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American Public Schools: Ephemera?

 

ephemera - noun/plural form of ephemeron - things that exist for a short time

I watch very little programming on "the box," otherwise known as the television. But when I do, I tend to focus in on offerings that stimulate my brain. Albeit controversial, Bill Maher's Real Time is one of my weekly choices. I tend to agree with him on a number of fronts, particularly when it comes to public education, this week's topic for the hour's closing monologue. Talk about hitting the nail on the head when it comes to the state of the nation's schools (and parenting)! Taking advantage of freedom of speech, Bill didn't spare words, not that he usually does anyway. According to Bill, contemporary statistics surely point to the nation's public schools as being an example of impending ephemera if positive change is not enacted immediately.

Just in case you didn't already know, I taught English full time to myriad students in grades 6-12 and substituted for pre-K through five children for 25 years. Four of those years I spent being the only Presbyterian instructor in an all-girls Catholic school, a member of the legions of effective parochial schools Bill mentioned. And yes, it is true that the private schools in the country are doing much better when it comes to meeting educational objectives. Why? For one, they don't put up with smart phone usage in the classroom, something that public educators seem to care less about as they use their devices for personal reasons in class as well (I saw this myself). And of course, the parents are no angels as they insist on being in constant communication with their children and can't wait until they get out of class to ask them how their day is going. (This I witnessed as well.) Teachers who put their foot down and tell the students to put their phones away are either harassed, threatened, or beaten by the unruly natives. Now I will say that the violence is nothing new as in the 1980s, I had a public high school senior, posing as a sophomore, threaten to shoot me because I had told him to stop talking, but I suppose things are getting worse as the culprits known as cell phones are all too ubiquitous and addictive. No wonder there is an 86% teacher vacancy rate in public schools today. Common sense will tell you that no great young minds want to deal with shenanigans like this for barely enough money to meet rent. 

Of course, as Bill stressed as well, not all public schools (and parents) are guilty of carelessness, but too many are. Either positive change needs to occur or the face of education will turn in an alternative direction towards Catholic schools, expensive prep schools, or homeschooling (and who has time for that?). The public school system, founded by Ben Franklin himself, used to be an example of socialism at its best. Now it is transitioning into a bad joke, one that needs to be rewritten into an illuminating parable worthy of remembering. 

Just remember that all things are possible with a bit of effort :). 

#word-to-words, #slice-of-life,  #blog, #blogging, #editorial, #reading, #vocabulary, #ReadersMagnet, #spilled thoughts, #good advice, #personal-essay, #writing community, #writing, #truth, #public schools, #teaching in America