Human Nature Sometimes Leaves Me Befuddled


I am procrastinating. I just realized that the last entry I wrote maligned my son's character. I am not particularly sorry but I suppose it wasn't very nice of me either. I wish I spent more time worrying about being nice or perhaps not.

I am supposed to be writing a rather tricky story about the school district's bizarre attempt to expel a high school senior because they determined that she does not spend three school nights a week with her mother in this city. Instead, she stays those nights with her father in another town.

The more I dig the more it becomes apparent that someone made up this rule and parroted it to the parent not realizing that they were dealing with an intelligent, well-spoken mother with lots of friends in our city. Whoops. And the district is saying nothing. Nothing.

They don't want to throw the highly capable person who made up the rule under the bus but they know they screwed up. Why not just pick up the phone and apologize to this mother? I really don't get it. Maybe the "rule lady" had a bee in her bonnet about something else when she waffled and tried to tell the mother that her kid wasn't sleeping at home enough. Maybe she got her back up when the mother said "WHAT?" Maybe she is used to parents kowtowing instead of writing a well-thought out letter to the editor. Whatever. Why not just apologize?

It's tricky in part because I know these people who run the schools and they're smart, very competent and very dedicated. They are not people who don't make return phone calls or answer questions. They are hiding to protect a hard-working, highly valued colleague who said something silly. I get that but I don't get why they didn't just say "we screwed up" and make the whole thing go away.

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