Right vs. Hard

 I need to be delicate here.  My colleagues do read my blog and many community members do as well.  Tact and discretion are imperative. 

Today I slammed into the wall that all teachers must face at one point or another in their profession.  I am speaking of being forced to be a participant in decisions that impact others’ lives.  To be a teacher in a school is to be part of a community.  A microcosm, if you will, of a fully functioning society.  We have leaders (the superintendent and the principal), we have members-at-large who CHOOSE to be part of the community (e.g., staff and faculty), and then we have the students who, for lack of a better analogy, are the slave-laborers having no choice at all in the matter.  Or maybe likening it to a family would service my purposes.  The parents’ role is obvious (again, the super and the principal), the siblings are the staff and faculty, and the students are the pets of the family (no, that’s probably getting carried away).  Well, you get the idea.  The family scenario maybe is a better fit here, because truthfully, the adults in the school sometimes act and react as brothers and sisters.  And I mean that in the best and worst way.  We are literally and figuratively in close proximity to one another.  Most times it is peaceful and a joyful place to be.  At other times, tension is high and people are watching, waiting, and longing for the clock to strike the end-of-the-day bell.  Is this atmosphere any different than any other work environment?  Absolutely not.  There are good and bad days in any work place on the face of God’s Green Earth.  People are the same wherever you go.

I’ll get to the meat and potatoes here.  I was forced to deal with a situation today that was uncomfortable and carried stress and tension with it.  I knew I couldn’t ignore what had been brought to my attention.  This is the right vs. hard part.  In a small school, where relationships are intimate and ties close, it can literally rock the delicate balance of co-existence.  I’ve been around long enough to know that actions have consequences, so you better think carefully before you speak or act.  And yet, I am a professional educator with professional responsibilities.  My conclusion eventually gelled into this incontrovertible truth.  Sometimes right just IS hard.

It won’t be my last brush with difficult, even painful, situations, and it won’t ever become easier to face them.  But the fabulous part of being the beautiful age of 48 is, I carry a fair amount of perspective around in my heart and head, and I know that tomorrow the sun will rise, and feelings will heal, and each day after will have its own unique set of circumstances that must be dealt with.  To put it simply, life goes on.  To that end, I will strive to be the best teacher I am capable of being, and I will attempt to be a peacemaker in my workplace community. 

Sometimes, as in any loving family, things will be tense for a while.  But just as families undergo trials and testing, so I hope my work family knows that trivial frustrations are temporal, and the bonds uniting people that truly like one another will survive. 

My own children could fight like cats and dogs in a landfill, but be laughing and enjoying each others' company within a short amount of time.  Human beings are funny that way. I used to wonder if my children would EVER become true friends.  Now I watch in amazement and awe as my adult sons plan ski trips together and let each other into the most personal parts of their lives.  I now understand that the squabbles of their youth were the proving grounds for lifelong intimacy. 

I think my day-family will be just fine.