10:19 a.m. - August 11, 2006
People Are Idiots
Sometimes, I really wonder about people.
I tend to think that humans are intelligent folks, but then, even the ones that I know are intelligent really confuzzle me.
There are a couple of stories that have me doubting the true wisdom of our species.
First, the local story.
A local English teacher at the high school was arrested this weekend for providing alcohol to minors. It seems that he was throwing a party, and four recent high school graduates were seen drinking beers with him. These were four kids that I knew from covering sports, and one of them had a baseball scholarship at a Christian school. (Oops�)
Someone ratted him out, the cops came, and he was busted. He resigned his post at the school board meeting yesterday.
In talking at the office today, the QB said that some of the other teachers in the school were saying that he was going to get busted and lose his job, as he�s been throwing these parties for a while.
This teacher is a graduate from my College. He was well liked in the school. (Well, duh, if he was giving some of the kids beers then yeah�) He�s also 28 years old, 10 years older than these kids. Sure, this isn�t the greatest place in the world for young, single, intelligent folks, but I survived here for a while.
There was no hanky panky involved, but still, what was he thinking?
For one, this is a small town. Everyone knows everyone�s business, whether they want to or not. The fact that several other teachers and coaches knew about these parties meant that it was just a matter of time before he was busted.
Second, he�s a teacher. Yes, teachers are human beings and they are allowed to do adult things, like drink beers, but NOT with high school students or even recent graduates that are underage.
Third, they were busted in his backyard. Why, oh, why, did he basically flaunt it by having the party outside? I know the street he lives on, and it�s a quiet residential street. Certainly, a party where there�s music and beer outside would be noticed by the neighbors, and if a civic minded citizen knew he was providing beer to underage kids they may well have ratted him out.
Fourth, the kids could have been at risk for drinking and driving. I suppose the kids were �safe� drinking with him, instead of binge drinking in some parking lot somewhere, but how are the kids going to get home safely?
Basically, in an effort to be �friends� with his students and be the cool teacher, he�s pissed away a career that by all accounts he was successful in.
So, that�s one story.
Then, today as I was reading Fark, I stumbled across this story.
Ick.
But wait, it gets worse.
If you didn�t want to read the stories, basically a woman had to have surgery and she was afraid that she would lose her boyfriend, so she arranged for her 15-year old daughter to �service� him in exchange for body piercings and clothes. They had a written agreement, and over two months he had sex with her 20 times or so.
From the Muskegon article, it wasn�t consensual (well, it can�t be, since she was 15, but it really wasn�t anyway) and the creepo is in bigger trouble.
I wonder who is the bigger cretin, the dude who willing shagged his girlfriend�s underage daughter, or the mother who willingly pimped out her underage daughter in order to save a relationship with this scumbag.
Wait, don�t answer that.
It�s enough to make you want to run to a desert and stick your head in a sand dune until it all stops.
This weekend, I�m going on a retreat for the Montgomery County Leadership Academy. I�m going to �learn� how to be a leader and hopefully this will enhance my career.
I think the first lesson of leadership is, �Don�t be an idiot.�
All I have to do is remember the two stories I posted here, and I think I�ll remember that lesson.
