Let's Order Lemonade

I made a decision today after meeting two young entrepreneurs I didn't know and may never see again.  In the early evening, when temperatures soared above 100 degrees, I decided to take a drive through a new neighborhood to check out some of the homes under construction.  As I drove around the corner of a block, I saw a young boy and a girl hard at work in the heat.  In a shady spot beside a wooden fence, together, they set up a table, a couple of chairs, and a bag full of cups. They also brought a tall pitcher of lemonade. I could tell they had the makings to become future business owners- they had chosen to set up shop on the busiest street in the neighborhood during a time when many people would be returning home from work.

I couldn't help it- I wasted time driving around until I knew they would be ready to open their store.  As I drove, I thought back to the joy I once had as a child selling Kool-Aid on the sidewalk outside my Florida home. There was something about being owning my own business that fulfilled me... And I remembered thinking that the extra spending money was nice, too.

When I saw that the kids were ready for business (loved it- they had made sandwich boards with cardboard and crayon writing and wore them as they worked), I pulled over.

"How much for a cup of lemonade?" I asked.

"Fifty cents," the little girl chirped.  (There's inflation for you.  Forty years ago, I sold mine for 5 cents a cup).

"What are you going to do with your money?" I queried.

They looked at each other, shrugged, and smiled.  "We haven't thought that far yet."

I grinned and handed them a five dollar bill; in unison, they began to pour a drink and make change for my bill.

"Tell you what," I said.  "I think I'll pass on the lemonade.  But you keep the money.  Just promise me that you'll be good to your teachers and that you'll learn something in school this year." Their eyebrows disappeared into their hairlines, their mouths rounded into o's, and they looked at me in disbelief.

"Are you sure?"  they asked.  I nodded and smiled. I didn't need the lemonade- they had already given me more than my five dollars worth of joy. They thanked me and I got back in my car and headed home.

I think from now on, I'm going to look for more opportunities to order lemonade and walk away empty-handed, but heart-filled.  

Laughing On Line

After seriously laughing out loud while rereading a Facebook thread I just had with two of my coworkers- one of whom was stuck in a training session she did not want to be in and one who, like me, was trying to cheer her up- I've decided to create a support group for teachers.  You know, a site that would help during those times when teachers are forced to sit through mindless/needless sessions that do not provide any useful ideas likely to be used in the classroom, but do fill a square (for someone, just not the person attending the session).  Here's my idea.

What if teachers were able to access- via their Smart Phones- other teachers who were available to text back and forth with them?  Kinda like what students have been trying to do for years in our classrooms.  It could go nationwide- you wouldn't even have to know the person you were communicating with.  The purpose of the texting would simply be to help teachers make it through their boredom through engaging conversation.  Something that would make their time worthwhile.  I mean think about it- if you're not going to get anything valuable out of the session, you might as well use the time to improve your literacy.  Statistics do show that people who use digital tools improve both their reading and their writing abilities.

I think I'll fly with this.  Volunteers?

Liberate Our Lawmakers

I think I have a solution for the politicians on Capitol Hill.  Since they are struggling to come to an agreement over some pretty critical issues affecting Americans, I think that for one day, we should give them a break- liberate them from making laws.  Instead of senators and congressmen and presidents and speakers giving long-winded speeches meant to please all the people who paid to put them in office, I think they should roll in a huge theater screen, kick out the press, sit back in their comfy chairs, turn off their cell phones, agree to NOT talk about politics, and en masse, watch "Captain America: The First Avenger." Heck, I'll even spring for the popcorn. Then, when the movie's over, they should go home and think about what they just watched.  I mean really think about it. Maybe- just maybe- when they return to work the next day, they'll have a better idea of what it takes to make America, America.

Learning Our Lessons

Isn't it funny how when we're too weak to change bad habits, nature sometimes will do it for us?  Take me for example.  I had two habits I wanted to get rid of- my daily doses of caffeine ala coffee and Diet Dr. Pepper and making quick stops for junk food when I felt hungry.  Enter Nature...

A few weeks ago, I got my blood results back from my yearly physical and found that my cholesterol had soared high above the normal.  It had never a problem before, but now it was bad enough that I would have to take medicine for it if I couldn't get it down. A few days later, I became violently sick.  I'm still not sure what set everything off, but no matter what I ate, my stomach burned and I felt queasy. I dropped seven pounds and eventually things got so bad that I couldn't sleep at night. Miserable and tired, I decided to fight back.

First to go was the coffee.  Next, the sodas.  I whittled back my diet until all I ate was the bland "BRAT" diet I had resorted to when my kids would come down with stomach bugs- bananas, rice, applesauce, toast.  I also drank tons of water.

Within a few days I began to feel better.  Slowly, I began to add foods back into my diet, making sure that they were low in fat, whole-grained, and healthy. I started carrying almonds in my purse so that if I got hungry while I was out, I could pass up the fast food food places.

Two weeks have now passed and I feel better.  My stomach's on the mend, I'm eating healthier, exercising more, and saving money and time on not stopping for "quick fix" junk food.  Although I never want to be as sick again as I was a few weeks ago, I'm glad that in the end, being sick made me into a healthier person.

Lots of Loot

Just thinking... Texas A&M University just gave their head baseball coach a $400,000 raise (not salary, but RAISE) for taking his team to the World Series.  Why does that happen in the sports world, but not in the academic world?  Think about it.  In classrooms all across the United States, teachers are working under the same stressful conditions (high-stakes pressure, tough performance standards, limited budgets... oh, wait.  I don't think that applies in sports) as coaches do with students who, unlike scholarship athletes,  were not hand-selected to be in their classrooms, who often don't want to be in their classrooms, and cannot be "benched" when they don't perform as desired.  Yet somehow, these teachers are able to draw out "homeruns" and "high scores" and "winning teams" from the students under their care.  In other words, they take their students to the World Series of Life, load the bases, and bring them all in.  Yet what is their reward?  I haven't heard of any making six-digit salaries never mind six-digit raises. Just something to think about it...

Little Old Ladies

Public bathrooms are a great place for molding character.  Take yesterday for example.  While I washed my hands and minded my own business, I couldn't help but overhear two little old ladies- each in their own stalls- publicly airing theirs. Within the short span of time it took me to scrub my hands clean and dry them, I heard more about their most private bodily functions than I would share even with my own doctor.  Using colorful and descriptive speech, they complained about how often they emptied their bladders, how useless their fiber supplements were, why toilet paper couldn't be softer...  As they exited their stalls, still griping to each other about their excretory systems and oblivious to my presence, their conversation made me think. When I am old, what will consume my conversations?  Right now I talk about things that I am passionate about- my faith, my family, my teaching, the power of words... But what will I be passionate about when I'm old?  I hope it's something more than my regularity...

My lol for the day- Little Oscar Lunging