R.E.S.P.E.C.T

Teachers, generally, are not hated as a whole profession. There are a few bad apples, sure. But for the most part, people often do not find us all that horrible. Now dentists, no one likes dentists. There are fears that are endless and the pain of dental work is unbearable. I can understand why people hate dentists. There are all the Wall Street bankers and corporate workers that really seem to bother people recently. The one percent making gobs of money, yes they seem to bother people as well. There are also jobs people take for granted that really seem horrible: trash collectors, mail carriers, slaughter house employees, road construction workers and the like. We think little of them yet they make the world go round.

Teachers don't really carry a bad reputation or go unnoticed like the afore mentioned careers. People seldom fear teachers. No one protests our over paid salaries. We hardly get forgotten about in the grand scheme of things. I have even had numerous people go as far as to say they find my chosen career path admirable, respectable or even daring...until one man.

Now this was barely a blind date...a first meeting would be a better descriptor. He is one of the gems people describe when talking about online dating. We had ordered a first round of drinks...our last round as it turned out and started some of the basic "get to know you" questions. These questions are basically just a recall of everything on our dating site which spurred this first meeting originally. As we are talking jobs he asked me what I did again. I reminded him I was a teacher and then time stood still. He slowly opened his mouth and uttered the words, "I don't respect teachers."

It was not unlike the scene from A Christmas Story in which Ralphie slowly utters "fuuuudddgggee" while helping his father with the flat tire. We all remember the scene. We all know the terror Ralphie felt and the shock of those around him. This scene played out rather similarly and I blinked in disbelief. Did I just here those words uttered out loud? The knee jerk reaction to throw my drink in his face never happened as I was too stunned to react. Who actually says something so horrible, to a teacher at that?! He had no real basis for his thoughts. No bad memories causing this attitude towards a profession shaping the minds of the world's youth. It was just a general disrespect for a teacher, not unlike how I feel about strippers. Nothing completely wrong with strippers, I don't hate them, no bad experience, I just don't find it completely respectable. (I don't however compare teaching to stripping all that often. I mean, after all, a stripper makes much more than I do.)

Now correct me if I am wrong, but I have a rather naive belief that most people find most teachers somewhat respectable. To think so strongly in the other direction makes me really question a person. Do people truly not understand what a teacher does? Is this a feeling that is widespread among the general population? If this all happens to be the majority rather than the minority opinion, please contact me directly. Upon removing my foot from your ass I will escort you to my classroom to see what I do everyday. Maybe then you will understand.