And You Thought It Was Bad....

So, I'm a California brat...grew up here. Went to school with the whole California 'tude. You know, meritocracy...everyone is equal...hell, I even spent years overseas..as a minority...to come back here to learn about 'civil rights' (which actually I, at 6th grade, could've taught the East Coast prima donna airheads who headed out here to educate us). I spent years overseas, not knowing the language, being discriminated against because of religion.

But that's beside point.

I can't get a job now.

Why?

Because I don't speak the language. Spanish, that is. I mean I do speak it...just not completely fluently. Estudiar muchos anos, pero no comprende mucho. So, that is one demerit against me in the job search ( a huge one, actually).

And, since I'm looking for a job in education....big disadvantage not having a penis and all. I guess I could pretend to be a lesbian. But I'm not big on pretending...so....again, two strikes.

Now, whenever you apply for a teaching position in our state (online), you fill out this application...which requests your racial identity. I always ignore that part. Even thought the application doesn't state that it's required to state what your ethnicity is...it's implied (although if you don't answer=which I don't=you can still submit your application).

So, tricky me, I thought I'd finessed it by submitting applications and ignoring the rude "what race are you? questions" and I have been actually getting a few interviews.

Only here''s the rub....once engaged in the interview...it's clear that being white, female and speaking grammatically correct English is quite enough reasons for me NOT to get the job.

Which is a shame...because my 99.9% hispanic students for the last two years (7th and 8th grade) told me that I was their first teacher that taught them how to speak properly.

But that's an aside...'cuz clearly in the state of Cali-fornication that doesn't matter (in fact actually teaching my largely migrant hispanic students life skills is a huge career liability).....in any event...at my last interview it was in front of a panel of 3 people....with a series of 8 questions...I had to read the handout in front of me but wasn't allowed to take the handout with me when I left (for obvious reasons)...

And one of the questions was this...

"How does your ethnic and racial identity contribute to this position?"

Racism, anyone? Isn't our educational system terrific?

Richmond Rape

So, along with everyone else, I'm watching the news today and I hear about this 15 year old girl who was raped outside a homecoming dance at her school for 2 hours.

More than 20 people watched and some even took pictures!

But do you know what I find deeply disturbing, besides the above facts of this criminal activity?

The reaction of the district spokesman, a Mr. Trujillo, who I just watched on t.v.

He stated, "The dance was a success." His take was that because no one inside the dance was hurt (they were people who had just done the hurting), the dance was...a success! And wasn't the girl who was raped initially at the dance? I mean, c'mon! It's disgusting how the district is trying to distance themselves from the responsibility of what occurred.

What a moron. I know that school district is trying to mitigate their losses and distance themselves from their culpability with this rape. Too bad. Suck it up, school district. The rape happened outside your dance, with your students. At the very, very least, you'd think the district would have the good sense to NOT appear on t.v. and say their dance was a success.

Because I Said So

Why is it that movie critics are so predictable? They panned the movie, "Because I Said So" and I know why.

If the movie had been about 4 men (gay or straight) looking for partners, critics would've raved about it. And if there was some ecological issues thrown in (Dad was a whale watching, global warming, eco-friendly, naturalist), even better!

But make a movie about a Single Mom looking for love and the critics bare their fangs. If the Victorian Age was "The Cult of True Womanhood" and, with Hemmingway penning "The Lost Generation" in his time, we are now living in "The Era of Mother-Haters". That's right...misogynists, chauvinists, and movie critics so eager to push a political agenda that they vilify so many of us. For in today's world, mothers are to blame for all of the world's ills and, specifically, America's slide into a moral abyss....at least, according to our movie critics. And any movie that attempts to portray the bind that women, specifically single mothers, are in when they try to raise their children, is, of course, going to be trashed by the critics. That explains the poor reviews.

So, here's the plot; Single Mom places a personal ad, trying to find a husband for her single daughter. Mom is dealing with impending old age and dealing with her own issues of poor past relationships, while still trying to make more opportunities for her gorgeous daughter, Mandy Moore. Why can't Mandy Moore find a man? Oh yeah. She lives in California where the men are...I'll leave it at *absent* but you can use your imagination.

Now, I usually don't like Dianne Keaton. Why? Because of her relationship with that perv, Woody Allen. And she's a nervous wreck in a lot of movies...appearing as a weak, wavering woman at the mercy of others. In this movie, however, she is aptly cast. First, she looks fantastic. Second, she is totally believable as a woman coming to terms with her own shortcomings and failings in life, while at the same time trying not to hobble her daughter with her own insecurities.

So, I'd recommend others seeing this movie. It definitely is a chick flick. And men are supporting cast members (another reason this movie irritated critics). But the movie was deep. It was thought provoking, sweet and fun.