Theater of the absurd is all around us

Missed yesterday's post due to an extended shopping trip and mental exhaustion following our contributions to keeping the economy humming. 

Kathleen and I roused ourselves enough to attend granddaughter Grace's JV basketball home opener at Arapahoe HS, where we saw one of the silliest examples of "mask theater" I have come across.

By mask theater, I mean the idea (or at least suspicion) that the act of wearing or not wearing a mask has much more to do with state of mind than physical protection from the virus. It is similar to the theater we have come to see when we fly: shoes must come off to be carefully scanned... all tracing back to one hapless terrorist-wanna-be attempting to damage a plane with a shoe bomb.

Maybe I have not paid close enough attention, but I have never read or heard of any similar attempt in 15 years plus, but the ritual continues. 

We know it's mostly theater when we experience, as we did during Thanksgiving week travel, TSA agents treating everyone as if they were TSA Pre-approved. During Thanksgiving week, Denver TSA agents waved everyone through without having them remove their shoes or place electronics in a separate bin, etc. There had been too much bad publicity for the airport over the preceding months about incredibly long lines to get through security. So rules were bent.

Sorry about the short detour there, but all the athletes who played last night wore masks, but they were tucked under their chins. This included the referees. Many in the stands didn't even go that far, simply dispensing with masks altogether.

Evidently the players and coaches were ordered to wear masks, but were also informed that HOW they wore them was their choice. The masks ended up being weird additions to their uniforms and (I guess?) met the letter of the law, or recommendation, or policy, or... something. Maybe next game they will wear them as armbands?

The effect was clear. Rules and 'best practices' are flexible at Arapahoe (maybe throughout the state?) and those who (as we did) wore their masks correctly could be forgiven for wondering just how far behind the zeitgeist we were. 

The zeitgeist -- or defining spirit or mood of the times -- appears to be that everyone has had enough of the pandemic and that we simply need to figure out a way to live with yet another danger (like brain damage from motorcycle riding or fellow drivers clearly texting at stop lights). We're Americans, damn it, and our freedom cannot be abridged in any way (well, beyond seat belt laws and required immunizations for our children to attend school and speed limits and payroll taxes and... the list is quite long).

When we got home, we watched the Iowa-Iowa State basketball game (a debacle for the Hawks). Perhaps it's just Iowa, now dominated by rabid reactionaries and conspiracy theorists, but there wasn't a mask in sight in that crowded, sweaty arena of screaming fans.

Honestly, I prefer the blatant and public to the game playing and lip service. Live your truth, I guess.

Maybe everyone in Hilton had been fully vaccinated, so why bother with masks?

Ha! Ha! Ha!

Math continues to confound the media, not to mention our neighbors

I read today that a recent Colorado study concludes that if a person has been "boosted," that person is about 50 times LESS likely to be hospitalized with any form of the virus compared to an unvaccinated neighbor.

It sounds impressive while also being nearly incomprehensible. Multiplying normally indicates increases in quantity. "My new job doubled my income" seems more natural than "My new job makes me two times less poor." When journalists decide to go with a multiplier to signify something LESS we run into all sorts of trouble, and it all begins with where the comparison starts.

For instance, here it seems more persuasive to choose the flipside of that "50 times less" statement: An unvaccinated Coloradan is 50 times MORE likely to be hospitalized than a neighbor who has had a booster vaccine.

Even that doesn't provide a full picture, since that starting point is still undefined. I was thinking that if the chance of a boosted adult being hospitalized due to the virus is already very small (like 1 in 9,000). Fifty times that takes us to 50 out of 9,000 people, and that is still quite a small chance. Yes, it's a lot more but the overall chances are far less than what we risk in other behaviors.

Your chances of getting into a car accident during a 1,000-mile trip are 1 in 366, just as an illustration. The estimate is that Americans average 3-4 accidents (and most are not life-threatening) over a lifetime of driving. Those are much higher odds than the chances of being hospitalized with Covid, but most of us ignore the danger in favor of our mobility. In a sense, we have factored the danger into our daily lives and decided (quite logically) that the positives we get from driving our cars outweighs the negatives.

The data also reveal that the population group most at risk of being hospitalized due to Covid, whether vaccinated or not, is still the elderly -- and I mean past the early 70s... like 85-year-olds). Of course, obesity and asthma and other underlying conditions cause the odds to get much worse.

It is also apparent that no data, no odds, and no scientific advice will suffice to change our behaviors as a nation and world. Emotions are so much more powerful than a mere exchange of facts.

But journalists continue to try to report on those facts, though almost always without the clarity we need as readers and viewers to make sense of trends.

It's the same basic issue as we find in reporting on federal budgets and new spending and new tax income, etc. The raw numbers are huge and the human mind can't really grasp numbers in the millions, not to mention the trillions.

We lost our ability as a nation to grapple with all sorts of issues once we surrendered to tribal politics, to such an extent that we now have people in America who would rather die than NOT "own the libs." 

Think about that. Some of our neighbors prefer the (admittedly slim) chance of death to compromising or (gasp!) changing their minds and adding one more vaccine to the inoculations they have already received.

More exasperating is the fact that Trump and most high-ranking Republicans are fully vaccinated, though they don't make a public sharing of that status very often. They benefit from the unrest, at least in the short term.

The ignorant and misinformed and fanatical do the dying, as always.

Approaching the end of another semester that did not go as planned

One of my favorite statements about teaching and life comes from "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," the 1939 Frank Capra movie that ends with an example of how the "standing, talking filibuster" really COULD produce something positive. The lost causes line comes much earlier in the film, when Jimmy Stewart's character, who had been appointed to replace a senator who had died suddenly, is commiserating with an old family friend.

That friend reminds him of what his father used to say: "Lost causes are the only ones worth fighting for."

Famous lawyer Clarence Darrow evidently said something like that long before the movie, but like most quotes from a less curated past, there is confusion about origins. The author is not nearly as important as the sentiment.

I am constantly reminded about this sentence, with the latest prompt being this column in the New York Times, written by a journalism teacher at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. She asks the rhetorical question, "Will My Students Ever Know a World Without School Shootings?"

Her column is more descriptive than a direct answer to the question in the headline but we all know that the most logical response to her question is "no." That is both a bit depressing and a bit cynical, but it is difficult to see that answer changing any time soon in an America that prefers extreme positions.

The positive spin, for me, is that despite the unlikely chances of significant gun safety laws or more general compromises among the population, making schools safer is clearly a worthy goal. For our nation, this is as much of a reach as world peace. Still, increased gun safety is worth pursuing.

In teaching, a much less fearful lost cause is education itself. We will never get everyone up to the "proper" reading level and we will never even get all students to see the difference between "its" and "it's." We will never see the day when all deadlines are met, no matter how reasonable. We will never attend a truly worthwhile faculty meeting (sorry for that snarkiness, but any teacher knows what I mean). 

We all have our lost causes, of course, but they mostly produce humor and self-deprecating jokes, not depression and cynicism. Educators start each year thinking THIS will be the semester when lesson plans really click, when students become self-motivated learners, and we handle all the tricky situations bound to occur in a diverse classroom with perfect balance and wisdom.

By the end of first hour, those dreams are dimmed. 

But we go back second hour and try again. 

It's the ultimate form of idealism: the "cause" is too important to abandon, no matter how unlikely any changes are.

A holiday image that sticks with you

This post required an image, something I have tried not to do with this little blog since it began. My goal was to focus on the written word, purposely avoiding using many of the tools that online publishing has available. But this Christmas card photo from a Kentucky congressman has to be seen to be fully appreciated.

The photo was posted on Twitter by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) last Saturday, along with the caption: “Merry Christmas! ps. Santa, please bring ammo.”

I am impressed by the sheer size of the congressman's weapon. Now there's a man's man. I assume his sons hope to some day be able to handle such a killing machine, but their current firearms look quite efficient (I suppose their users' skills determine some of that). Until then, dad still possesses the "big one."

The females clutch their own somewhat smaller guns, which launches an additional line of thinking. The younger daughter (middle) looks almost of pleased as did with her weapon (which she may not be old enough to own?).

This photo has produced a lot of criticism in Michigan in the past couple days. The Oxford HS massacre is quite recent and raw for those softies up north. The good news? Everyone will wring their hands and offer their prayers and soon move on to other, more important concerns. Like limiting the opportunity for some to vote... or policing the wombs of America.

Of course, the far right radicals praised the image, with Colorado's own online terrorist Lauren Boebert tweeting, "That’s my kind of Christmas card!”

Honestly, does that woman do anything in D.C. beyond avidly watching social media and responding with the most incendiary words she can muster? Her district will benefit greatly from both the recently passed infrastructure bill and the coming second part of Build Back Better, and she has zero input or interest in either of those. 

But are her constituents not entertained?!

As far as more progressive folks calling the card disgraceful so soon after the Michigan shootings, that seems like a stretch. I doubt that the Massie family rushed to gather for this portrait after last week's latest school shooting. It's Christmas, and images for cards are best taken long in advance. And no matter the time of year, this sort of image might remind us of frequent school shootings -- there have been at least 144 this calendar year, with 28 deaths and 86 injuries.

The timing is unfortunate, maybe, but the truly frightening thing is that many, many American families would love to share a similar image during this season of peace.

And if the family truly is in need of ammo, they can look forward to some nice after-Christmas sales.

When workers are desperately needed, how much are we willing to spend?

As the world deals (well, does NOT deal very well) with the omicron mutation and we look forward to finishing up the Greek alphabet with the omega variant in the coming year, life goes on and so does the economy.

Here's a little story I heard from a friend the other day, based on what her son learned while interviewing owners of an auto dealership/shop. He works in marketing and wanted tips on how to appeal to auto dealers to become sponsors or advertisers. I have no idea what he learned about that, but he did hear this (I am likely just summarizing):

There is a looming auto mechanics shortage, with an aging workforce and more people pushing their vehicles for a few extra years of service as inflation rises and the economy remains uneven. And there is a shortage of new cars available due to supply chain issues. 

This dealer claimed that he is willing to pay $250,000 salaries to qualified and certified mechanics... right now. He could care less about a college degree or even a high school diploma as long as the employee could pass the required training courses.

And he has five positions available today.

That same day I saw that about 30,000 public school teachers from across the country had quit in September and October. The job tends to attract people who value "mission" over money and accept the fact that they will never be well-paid. I have been one of those teachers since the mid-1970s who made the compromise and valued my contributions to the larger community. I'm no saint, of course, nor very unusual in this regard. 

In fact, it turned out that all those years of not making much money but being part of a mandatory retirement fund system pays off in the long run. 

But there is some sort of line, and teachers today seem to be right on it. Lack of money plus a surfeit of phony respect (much like "thank you for your service") plus radical citizens attacking them from all directions, plus a vague belief that anyone could teach, and the general discomfort from masks, stubborn children and parents and more have combined to make a number of educators rethink their choices. 

I read that a school district in New Jersey doubled sub pay from $125 to $250 per day. No organization does that unless desperation is setting in, if not outright panic. It will be interesting if this radical increase reduces their sub problem. In our system, employers must always attempt to find the LEAST they can pay but still offer products and services (and retain workers).

In Colorado, the average public school teacher salary is $60,000, though there are wide disparities depending on the district. And there is a looming shortage of teachers coming.

What would change the dynamic? Would average pay of $120,000 be enough to attract more talented teachers? Or maybe bumping the average by just $10,000 a year could do it. 

I have no idea if the owner of that car dealership was entirely serious about his $250,000 offer, but it is clear that something needs to happen to attract our workforce to certain occupations.

Life is much more complex than simple cause and effect between high salary and interested job seekers. But some poor schmuck of an English teacher making $40,000 a year in a mountain town just might find motivation to switch jobs with the promise of $150,000 after a short (far shorter than obtaining a college degree) period of training.

The mountains are beautiful and the lifestyle may be just what a person wants.

But tripling or quadrupling your income is tough to resist. And who is to say if maintaining vehicles can't bring equal satisfaction to a person as teaching basic grammar and punctuation to ninth graders (or college students)?

Having trouble following the logic of current events?

I suppose the idea that the United States is a logical, law-based, democracy was never really true outside idealistic textbooks and high school classrooms, but current events make that notion seem like a quaint affectation.

Simultaneously, we are arguing about when or even if a woman may elect to have an abortion -- even in the case of rape or incest -- while many of the very same people passionately arguing that society has a duty to control personal health decisions are also fighting against society asking for community-based strategies to fight Covid -- vaccines and masks. 

As a nation, we have given up on any pragmatic attempts to curb gun violence, even in schools, while arguing angrily about esoteric historical theories that no K-12 teachers actually know much about or intend on weaving into their curriculum.

We love our children this much: we are willing to see a tiny percentage of them murdered to protect some vague sense of freedom. We value life this much: we are OK with thousands of suicides by gun each year.

Public school teachers are quitting in droves, according to new reports, many saying they are exhausted by the combination of constant political battles over schools, lack of parental and societal support, and depressingly low pay. But as long as OUR precious children are doing OK, we just frown and bring up old arguments about summers off and how "only those who can't, teach."

Of course, teachers in our children's schools are fine, and so are the schools themselves. It's everywhere else that needs regulation and prohibitions and interference.

College football coaches are now following the money in blatant ways, with some top jobs commanding over $10 million per year. Meanwhile, most college professors must be happy with a cost of living raise -- and those raises are often not nearly enough to stay even with inflation, much less boost net income.

One political party actively works to undermine the IRS, claiming illogically that the governmental agency charged with collecting taxes can't be trusted to do what we ask them to do. About half of Congress are millionaires, which ain't quite the distinction it used to be, but it is difficult to disagree with statements like, "We are a nation governed by the rich, for the rich."

Can we be shocked that rich people are reluctant to fully support an agency charged with asking them to pay their fair share of support for national government? 

I have claimed for decades that my feelings on abortion are these:

• I am against abortion.
• I am for a woman's right to choose.

Clearly, I am juggling some paradoxes here.

I also like to share a Robert Fulghum (Captain Kindergarten) story where he describes two buttons he wore on his smock during classes (teaching art in Seattle). One button said, "Trust me. I'm the teacher." The other said, "Question authority." He wrote that he believed in both positions quite passionately.

Americans claim to honor "front line workers" like the military, teachers, health care workers, trash collectors, and store clerks while tolerating or ignoring all the messages we send more directly about their value: mostly low pay, lousy conditions, and overwhelming responsibilities. 

Bottom line: attempting to find logic in our nation is a fool's errand. 

Finding amusement in watching others fight it out

There are few things more amusing than watching your teacher (or most any authority figure) losing it and berating someone else. Those last two words are key, as being the object of an outburst would rarely be called 'amusing.'

Most of America, therefore, must be amused to observe various legislators reduced to mostly unhinged name-calling... of one another. 

One of the requirements of a civilized society is that people NOT resort to name-calling instead of rational debate, and that leads me to wonder just how civilized the U.S. really is right now. There is a laziness that lies at the heart of ad hominem attacks, such as one of Colorado's representatives calling another representative a potential suicide bomber. Or when an Arizona rep shares a crude video of himself beheading yet another female legislator. And the list goes on.

I grew up with "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me," and I am tempted to apply that to today's America. In my hazy memory there really was a time past when the "winning" approach was to not fire back with return insults... and citizens, voters, etc., would eventually come to respect that "rising above the mudslinging."

But as a writing teacher I must acknowledge that at my core I believe that logic and words and rhetorical choices actually matter. To rise above can't mean we just dispense with all the features of good writing and persuasive arguments, relying instead on mutual hatred and distrust to keep at least some people on our side.

My motivation to continue teaching writing and expecting accuracy, logic, and clarity has now become quite simple: help one student at a time explore how strong thinking looks and how language reflects strong thinking (or does not). 

I had an epiphany of sorts a number of years ago that all my most effective teaching happened one-on-one, no matter how many students I had per class. I may have entertained larger numbers if I put together a particularly interesting lesson plan, but all my best student writers progressed partly due to conversations we had, views we shared, ideas we kicked around.

People don't like to think of themselves as just one among millions. They want to be "seen." They want to be acknowledged as individuals who possess some worth.

So I stick with teaching writing, hoping that those short responses and suggestions I share with each of my students produces small changes... or perhaps just sets something in motion. Teachers and politicians, to name two professions, may want to create mechanisms to make courses and positions more successful. But mechanisms always depend on simple cause and effect levers.

It turns out that cause and effect is rarely simple.