September 11, 2012

In comparison to the agony of others, my 9/11 story sounds so small and inconsequential. However, it stays with me and, I guess it will forever.

 Once I'm awake and in 'going to work' mode, I get so preoccupied that I, seldom, take time to notice the day. That day, I remember.  As I drove up Germantown Avenue,  I rolled the window down and thought to myself that this was really just a gorgeous day.  I can't say I felt any sense of something about to happen, none of that. Just a small thought, then I let my mind go on to the day ahead and all of the things that needed to be done.

Around ten I had my prep hour, and I walked up towards the office.    One of the other teachers was walking out just as I got to the door, and she looked sort of strange.  I thought she was coming down with a flu bug or something, 'How's it going/"  She looked at me, looked through me, and said, 'Someone just attacked the World Trade Center'

You know, when things really get bad, I don't comprehend too well.  I just keep thinking that I must have misunderstood, that this can't be happening. And that's what happened then.  I did not comprehend the magnitude of what Bonnie had said. 'Attack'  and 'World Trade Center' did not belong in a sentence together.

After that, things get blurry.  We just walked through the next hour or so , following the normal routine.  Our principal came on the intercom.  She told us to take our kids to the lunch room and have them given their lunches:  a hot pack, a cold pack and a milk.  She was thinking, I'm sure, that heaven only knew when they might be getting another meal.  Then, the walkers were to be released, the bus kids escorted to the buses , and everyone  sent home. .  Once the students were safely out of the building, the teachers would be  dismissed. .

 None of us looked into each other's faces as we went through the motions, keeping our game faces on.  We knew that something awful had happened, something beyond comprehension. But, it wasn't the 'what had happened' that was scaring the wits out of me, it was the 'what's next?'  We didn't know who had done this. We did not know what else were they going to do.  By that time, we'd heard that the Pentagon was a target--I can't remember if it'd had been hit yet or not.  So, was Philly next?  And if Philly was next, were would they strike?  Would they blow up the 30th Street Station?  One of the bridges?  We were lining our kids up and putting them on buses with absolutely no idea what was coming.

That year, I was teaching low-incidence kids--the sped term for very low functioning students with many attendant health problems.  It can be heart breaking , gut wrenching work.   But here's the thing:  Children who have some of the most devastating disabilities can, also, be the  most loving, non-judgmental little beings on the planet.  Every morning, as they get off the bus, it's  big smiles and hugs all around.  At the end of the day, it's the same thing.  Their love is unconditional, absolute,  unequivocal.

That year, I had this one little boy who was just the epitome of that sort of attitude. Every morning, he would move his desk right up beside my desk.  If I put it back to where I thought it belonged, he'd wait a minute til I was busy and move it to where he thought it belonged.  In the end, I just gave up and left it there, right by my desk.  As we walked from the cafeteria , heading towards the buses, he took my hand and looked up and smiled at me.  I helped him put his lunch into his bright red book bag and pointed him towards the bus.  His arms went around my waist, and he said, 'I love you teacher.  See you tomorrow' ,turned and got onto the bus.

Would we see each other tomorrow?   Who knew? I turned around, went to my room , locked everything up, headed home and spent the next week in front of my television in my apartment.

See what I mean?  My story is so small.  Of course, the sun came up in Philadelphia.  A week later, we all went back to school.  I met  the bus, got  my morning hug, and the world began to spin again.  Still, when I think of that day, I get , as I said, the heeby jeebies all over again.

Then, I slap myself, give thanks for my blessings and send prayers to those who lost loved ones on that day.

I've used this picture before, but it is one of my favorites.  It reminds me of the men and women who have given their all for the rest of us.   

September 5, 2012

A  lot of my conservative friends have been saying, 'Oh yes, the unions did a lot of good in their day.   However, they've outlived their purpose.' Oh really?

When I was first married, my husband worked for the railroad.  He made a decent wage, he  had benefits, and he had a pension plan.  I worked for the school district.  I made  so-so money, but I , too, had a pension plan, and health benefits.  My birth control pills were covered, and when I did get pregnant, I got to stay in the hospital six days for a vaginal birth and ten days for a cesearean section. Later,  after my third child was born,  I didn't have to ask permission from anyone in order to obtain the a tubal ligation.   That was the nineteen seventies.  As the years have passed, I have watched as health care benefits have been decreased and those that are still available have been placed on 'employee contributed' status. Plus, aside  from having  less and less coverage, my insurance company has placed itself  in the middle of my personal, private business .  I am now forced  to have my life impacted by the religious beliefs of others.  

Other  changes in the working environment have been  made since then:   A full crew on a train locomotive went from  four men , to three, to two. I don't know how many they have on a crew now. , but a lot of people, at the time,  felt that the reduction in crew size endangered the lives of the remaining crews.   The railroad tracks in Pennsylvania between Youngstown and Buffalo were, with full union acquiesence, pulled up and the jobs of the men and women who worked those routes were lost.  Defined pension funds  have gone the way of the 1963 Corvair and have been replaced, when they were replaced at all,  with 401k plans. The data which is turning up lately, is showing that 401k plans  can be risky and the associated fees, paid by the employees, are high.  The give backs in the area of public education have been well-documented.

While union leaders , publicly, decried these changes ,  as far as I can see, they have done very little to stop the gutting of union members' contracts.   I believe that union leaders have become soft and afraid to make an active play to protect the rights of the people who pay their salaries. When one studies early labor history, incidents such as the Homestead Labor Strike of 1892 are a sharp contrast, indeed,  to the 'You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours' mentality that has become popular today.

I used to read the papers and think, 'Well, that's the last straw.  Someone is going to call for a strike vote for sure, now.  Then, nothing. Why?  Why  no strike vote?  Or for that matter, even a public , informational picket in which no work stoppage occurred? And, as long as I'm asking Why questions, here is another.  Why has there been no descernible movement  to organize un-represented areas:  hotel workers, food service personnel?  Could it be, possibly, that union leade are predominately White men, and new workers in these areas are overwhelmingly female and minority?  Just a thought that runs through my mind every now and again.

When I hear some knothead get on the television and praise management on Labor Day I do not even get angry. History has demonstrated that  management personnel will do whatever they are allowed to do:  protect management, exploit the workers and send the jobs to countries where children are paid pennies an hour and work hours and hours each day.   It's the union leaders who should be giving themselves a good long look in the mirror as this Labor Day 2012 draws to a close.


Unions have not outlived their purpose, far from it.  The workers in this country need, badly, a revitalized union moving.    What the working people in this country really need I think,  is a few more leaders of the ilk of Cesar Chavez.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/09/04/was-the-decline-of-american-unions-inevitable-ask-canada/

As sometimes happens, as I was working on this post, I read this blog article which presents more insight into this issue of unions and their role.  I  found the Canadian approach to be fascinating.