Today I am thankful that I know wonderful people who are far too much like me and that know how to deal with those who aren't.
I don't know exactly how much I can share.
I really don't.
Just know......at least one of my associates has gone to incredibly crazy lengths to get me into a classroom
with a gorgeous,
tall,
single,
man who, apparently, worked with me for over two years at my previous job.
He's a little bit older than I.
I don't remember him.
The first time I noticed him was when he smiled at me when I first entered the room....
on Monday.
My associates arranged for me to be in the same class as him and had me sit next to him. I wound up switching seats with someone who needed to be closer to the front of the class. Now, I sit on the other side of the room.
I don't want to give too much about the circumstances of this class away.
My former employer sold my division to another company. My former trainer and the woman who hired me into that job are the new HR representatives for this company. They asked me to come back through the end of the year to help the company through the transition.
They said a five week course would help me get a running start on the gig.
I asked for a different class, starting at a different time and on a different day. They argued with me and misrepresented the fact that there were other classes available.
They told me that I would regret not attending this class.
My associates drove a hard bargain to convince me that I needed to spend the next five weeks of my life in this room.
It turns out to be a set up.
He knows too much about me. I wonder who could have told him?
Hmmmm......no big mystery there.
The man I was supposed to sit next to is also a former social worker.
We have a similar degree.....
similar experiences.....
and I cannot fathom how in the heck we wound up working at the same place doing the same job and getting laid off at the same time.
I was hiding from a stalker. I took the job coaching sales agents because the security was high and my ex and his relatives couldn't get to me.
Why was he there?
I didn't ask. I assume it is because good salespeople make double or triple the money that social workers and psychotherapists make.
*******
He smiles too much.
I catch him watching me.
I'm finally realizing that he likes me.
It only took five days.
I don't know what to say.....
it's the little things......
the smiles.....
the walking me to my car......
making sure I don't get stuck in the elevator.....again.....
asking me why I drink Mt. Dew when I can't handle sugar.
He's started to offer me tea.
Oh my.....
I can't.....
I just......
can't.....
He's very kind, gentle and soft-spoken.
I am gentle, too....
UNTIL
1.) I witness cops roughing up a twelve year old......I've seen it. I've complained about it. I've been told that I don't know the true circumstances or the situation. That last phrase in italics is a phrase that one will only hear an abuser say. There are no circumstances which warrant the beating of a twelve year old.
2.) I also get upset when I see a child getting turned away from a school study hall in the morning because he or she was good enough to do his or her homework the night before. When I drop my kiddo off at school, I'll notice many kids are forced outside to study in the morning. There is a teenager who wanted to come into the school for study hall to read and avoid the bullies. This security guard makes these kids stay outside unattended because they've already done their homework.
Apparently you're not allowed to read at a study hall
because....
well.....
I don't know.....
I don't know what in the world the security guard is doing but I can't seem to visit this school or drop of my children without witnessing some type of bizarre altercation.
When I try to talk to the people in charge, I get a lot of information that makes no sense. They want kids to attend study hall that haven't done their homework the night before.
They expect all kids to do their homework the day it is given (rather than the morning).
Reading must always be at home.
Rules are not to be written down because they change all the time. Parents have to guess at what is going on.
As a result, I decided NOT to let my kids partake in school fundraisers or activities when the security guard flip flops on the dates and times the kids can attend. It's disgusting dropping them off thinking they'll be busy doing school related stuff and the security guard forces them to sit outside alone.
We have sex offenders in the area. Some security measure, eh?
They're putting kids in danger and miscommunicating with the parents.
3.) A couple of years ago, I lost my cool. Yes, there was a time I went on a rampage with the Principal because the security guard sent a bunch of 12-13 year old girls, in mini-skirts and high heels to walk home (in the dark) at a dance on Friday night because the librarian mistakenly believed they owed fines. I figured it out when I drove down the street and saw girl after girl shivering in the cold hobbling down the side of a busy, poorly lit, street in the dark!
I went to the school and found my own daughter was forbidden from attending the dance due to a fine she didn't owe. I threw my driver's license on the table, asked the Principal to Google my name and guess what I was going to do next. I had just been in the papers for one of my political stunts.
I may have made mention to being a former victim's advocate and knowing that happens to many young women walking home, in the dark, dressed in high heels and short skirts at 8:00 p.m. on a poorly lit street.
During my rampage, I asked the Principal to verify the fines. He couldn't do that. All those kids were sent out in the dark and cold due to a mistake the librarian had made.
Yeah......maybe the reason teachers make so little is because their overlords don't make any sense and voters get disgusted or feel disrespected trying to interact with them. I'd advocate for the school district more if they treated people with a semblance of respect.
They don't.
4.) I'm fairly upset because I caught a security guard threatening to arrest students for trespassing. They wanted to thank a teacher. There was a tennis match on the south side of this school building. They were participating in it. It looked they did a good job and wanted to tell their teacher. That's not an arresteble offence. This guard started making fun of the students, claiming they couldn't understand English. One kid looked terrified. The others looked shocked. When I cleared my throat, the security guard told me she'd get to me in a minute. Getting between her and the kids, I started my little rant about how arresting people for no reason wastes tax dollars and it was not fair for Aurorans in other school districts to pick up the law enforcement tab for their piddly school policies and inability to communicate them in a rational manner.
She interrupted me and called in a higher up to deal with me. I didn't get real answers and made the decision not to let my kids fundraise for the district or trust the security guard to let my kid in or out of school for fundraising or other types of activities. I promptly left a message on Facebook for my friends in the legislature (who dislike the criminalization of our youth) and my frenemie on the school board.
I don't know if they'll care. At least, it'll be practice if I have to give a speech or write or rant about it in the future.
I think the security guard should be retrained or out of a job. The first 12 year old who gets sexually assaulted because (s)he's kicked out of study hall for doing his/her work and forced outside without supervision is going cause a stir.
If I find out teenagers are being arrested for trespassing when picking up their younger siblings, I'm going to make this security guard and the arresting officers famous. If it is such a problem, then the school ought to start providing transportation.
They don't want to do that because it's too expensive.
According to Colorado law.....trespassing would imply ignoring a request to leave and/or criminal intent. It also only applies to people who enter an area where one would be prohibited if paying admission were required (chew on that...that's how a defense attorney just explained it to me).
I've confirmed that there is no Aurora code allowing cops to arrest kids for picking up their younger siblings or wanting to thank a teacher within 500 feet of a district sanctioned tennis match they were partaking in. If there are no signs warning of trespassing and if there is no criminal intent - there can be no tickets or arrest.
Remember this is public property. The kids they are threatening attend a school on the same campus. The schools are grouped together. It's hard for me to imagine them trespassing by waiting on the lawn for their siblings.
Maybe I need to spend a day in Education/Youth Court. I know some great activists in that arena.
Besides....this guard is not deputized....so....she'd have to call the police.
I've talked to the police department. They won't just arrest someone or ticket a child without investigating criminal intent. I'm trying to get answers from the school district.
Why do I have to see this crap? I have not had the pleasure of visiting this school without hearing an official threaten a kid with arrest this year. Every day I visit, I hear that threat made to a group of kids.
What gives?
Maybe I need to start taking videos and uploading them to YouTube and sending copies to the local news stations.
Adults should be able to communicate with each other. Answers should be forthcoming.
They're not.
They're not.
Public school officials are nearly impossible to communicate with - this doesn't set a good example for our youth.
The real problem with public schools in Colorado is that they are set up in such a way to make it impossible to communicate with them in a real, meaningful way. It's a maze of names that are unreachable.
Me? Over the years, I've learned to try the Principal. They never seem to return calls. The Principal's office gets a few hours before I go to the District Manager for the school. That person typically calls me back immediately. If no one gets back to me in twenty-four hours, I go to the press.
After seventeen years in this neighborhood, they've learned to call me back before the end of the business day.
The security guard is using the cops to do her job. She and/or these policies have been putting young people in danger for years. Either she, her boss, or the horrible policy she is using needs to go.
I have ways of dealing with a-holes. I'm on it.
********
I may seem to masquerade as a quiet and kind woman.
My voice rings with obnoxiousness when the city wants taxpayers to fund a private enterprise, when I catch public officials breaking the law, behaving unethically or being overtly nasty.
That is why I can NEVER date again.
I scare men with my power.
I'm determined to live the rest of my life alone.
Sigh.....
******
Usually, when I tell myself that I have to be alone, I run to eat junk food.
If I'm fat - no one will ask me out.
I've gained thirty pounds.
It hurts my knees.
I am wearing size 12 clothes now.
I'm obese.
I think this guy has cured my eating habit.
I realized that being fat didn't stop him from flirting with me.
In my sadness, I find myself gorging on kale.
Maybe he taught me something.
******
He tried to ask me out.
I....I stammered.....
I told him that I had to go water the plants in my office.
I'm lame.
The truth was....I had to get to the other side of town to confront a public official.
That......
that's why I have to be alone.
Men don't want outspoken women.
I'm contemplating leaving the class.....and searching for a job where my assertiveness will be a value to my employer.
May you find what you need when you need it most.
Love ya lots,
S.
09/06/2017 EDIT: The Principal for the school called me and said that they don't threaten children with arrest anymore. I was told she'd talk to security and get them clear on policy.
I was informed that they only tell high school students to stay off of the campus as a courtesy to the parents. There is no rule requiring these students to stay a certain number of feet away from the campus at any time.
I was told they only started hassling the high school students about being too close to the middle school three weeks ago. I know....that's not true. They've been doing that for five years.
The middle school and high school share a campus. Maybe parents need to spring for signage to spare the security officer's voice. She sure screams a lot in an effort to enforce a non-existent policy.
At least, they're trying.
I've been watching with my video camera at the ready. The security guards are lying to me about the policy and how long they've been yelling at kids for being on campus.
I hate gas lighting. I hate it when people tell you that things you've seen never happened.
Ugh.....
I'm old. I've seen this play out numerous times since 2002. I'll keep an eye on the situation and hope my conversation with the principal changes things.
One of my kids is being bullied by kids in her Spanish class. These bullies don't speak any Spanish. They are horrible students -so- I'm going to try to find someone to tutor my child in G-rated Spanish insults.
Maybe....she'll inspire her bullies to crack open a book or an app once in a while.
Teach your children well or someone else will.
There are always solutions to bullies - always.
Cheers.