pomp

Does your town make a giant deal when eighth graders complete the school year? Mine does. It's the stupidest thing I've ever heard of in my entire life. Eighth grade graduation? Please. I've never heard of such a thing until I moved to Philly.

I understand Pennsylvania is a bit behind the times. But not a century behind.
I understand I live near Amish country, where kids are only expected to go to school until they are teenagers. But not in it.

Nothing says "yer ass ain't gonna walk crossed no high school stage so we may aswell make a big deal bout this now" like making your gangley weirdo 13 year old put on an ill fitting polyester cap and gown and parade them around the middle school before taking them home and serving rigatoni and hoagie trays and cake to everyone you've ever known in hopes they bring greeting cards full of dollars.

Then again, in all fairness, for some reason people make a big deal out of everything in Philadelphia. I say it gives people a warped sense of pride and self confidence. I can't be proud of someone for doing something they are supposed to do. Was it Chris Rock who says something about how you aren't supposed to go to jail and you're supposed to take care of your kids? I think it was.
If you are operating somewhat normally and able-bodied, you're supposed to go to school. For at least twelve years. You're supposed to learn how to read. And do math. And get a job. And sit up by the time you are one year old. And start talking by the time you are in kindergarten. And brush your teeth. And wash your hands. And pee in the potty. And and and. This city (and the world, I'm sure) is full of little brats who think they are so damned special and unique when all they are is a normal kid doing normal kid stuff but their mothers have nothing better to do than decorate their front windows (oh yes, houses are all-out decorated for communions and graduations and everything in between- probably more elaborately than most people decorate for Christmas. I'll get some pics this weekend to prove the redunkulousness) and throw a blockparty to celebrate every tiny milestone their kid passes. And those brats grow up with a sense of entitlement and importance that ends up getting them nothing and nowhere. And then they pass the same thing on to their normal boring vanilla kids who think they are Very Special and Not Boring. And so on and so on and so on.

I can't be part of that.

I walked into my building this morning behind a girl dressed in a pink sweatsuit that had the word Princess sprawled across her butt. It was bedazzled. As were her nails. And her flip flops. And her cell phone. And her fake Louis Vuitton bag. And she got mad when someone let the door close rather than holding it for her despite the fact she was walking at a snail's pace and 15 feet behind the entrance. And she stuck her lip out, which was barely visible under her ridiculously large MaryKateLike sunglasses. And she was at least 40. Or maybe she slept in a tanning bed at night and just looked at least 40.
I know that girl. Not her, exactly, but her. That girl is like cockroaches round these parts.

Seriously though, these kids might not make it through high school. Less than half of high school students graduate in this school district. And we are not the worst off city in America, not by a long shot. And rural areas can be worse. I think instead of turning Going to Ninth Grade Next Year into some sort of Second Coming we should work on keeping them for the next four years.

Not telling them about the FACTS of sex and condoms is clearly not working to prevent pregnancy and the resulting drop out rates. Or STDs. STDs aren't prevented by silence.
Just Saying No to Drugs and ignoring the signs of use and addiction isn't keeping kids from getting high and cutting school.
Passing kids despite failing grades isn't helping the matter. Learning disorders are ignored. IEPs are ineffective and are becoming a generic form for everyone rather than an Individualized pathway to learning. That's what the I stands for. Individualized. Let's do it.
Ignoring truancy or giving a slap on the wrist isn't enough. Have you met the mothers of some of these kids? They think school is stupid. They most likely dropped out by age 15 so they are completely stuck at age 15 for the rest of their lives. I've been in enough homes and schools and family court hearings to know that this is the prevailing attitude in way too many households. These moms and dads don't need a job, they are doing just fine. Just ask them.
They don't need school, they are smart about things they need to be smart about. Just ask them.
Yeah, no. Trust me when I tell you that if I've been in your house between the hours of 9 and 5 and the days of Monday thru Friday, you aren't doing fine. Your unemployed, undereducated ass should never even know me. If we know each other, you aren't doing just fine.

Women are raising their daughters to find husbands rather than find themselves.
Men are raising their sons to be tough rather than real men.
Beauty and stuff is prized before knowledge and ambition.
This extends beyond color, beyond class, beyond neighborhoods.

But please, let your kids drop out and fall into the system. If they do, I am guaranteed a job. I love my job. I want to keep it. And they are pretty much guaranteed to raise their kids the same way, so I can work long past retirement age now that everyone practically has too.

What the hell am I even talking about? Do I realize that it's not even 9am?
I might be a bit roiled up.
I'm going to go take a zen like walk around the block and start this morning anew.

I'm either drinking too much coffee or not enough.

I need to stop paying so much attention to everybody else and start minding my own business.

I need to stop caring about other people's habits, even if they are the people that live near my son and will potentially be his peers and their parents in a couple short years when he goes to school when he starts to model their behavior and bring that crap home with him and HEY! Dammit.

I need an island.