Spike's Bitches 42: Which question do you want me to answer first?
[NAFDA] Spike-centric discussion. Lusty, lewd (only occasionally crude), risqué (and frisqué), bawdy (Oh, lawdy!), flirty ('cuz we're purty), raunchy talk inside. Caveat lector.
On the subject of honorifics, Emmett still calls all his teachers Mr./Miss/Mrs. Last Name. In Little League though, we tend to get called by our first names, though sometimes it's Coach David.
In college, my political science professor in my freshman year insisted that everybody in the class be called Mr. or Miss Last Name. His logic was that he wanted all of us to be on the same plane for our discussions, but that he was unwilling to give up the formality of being addressed by his first name. It was awkward for about a week, and then turned out to be a positive in-group thing which was reinforced when you'd see your classmates at parties and could only address them as Ms. Teague or Ms. McKhann. We all grew to like it. And it definitely raised the tone of the conversation just to say things like, "In addressing Mr. Meyer's point..." etc.
McCain campaign did claim his war wound prevents him using computers. But there are photo's of him using a Blackberry.
He also bragged about his BBQ prowess, saying that part of the awesomeness of his recipe involved him squeezing 15-20 lemons over the meat while it's on the fire. Somehow, I have a hard time parsing being able to squeeze 30-40 lemon halves while not being able to type on a computer. Hunt and peck, dude.
I'm not watching the debates tonight, for there is not enough whiskey in the WORLD to get me drunk enough.
Also, I was raised on military bases so I Sir and Ma'am people all the time.
As in "don't shoot me, or you get her for President" type of life insurance.
If that's the case, shouldn't she be a better choice for the Obama ticket? I mean, really.... The kind of people who really, really Do. Not. Want. Mr. McCain to be president are a whole lot less likely to vote with a semi-automatic weapon, than those who object to Mr. Obama's leadership.
Dear God, please keep Barak Obama safe. He's got little kids, and a wife who loves him. He's got work to do here, and I really think he isn't done doing it. Please.
The kiddos in after care call me "Miss Val." This was my choice. The school would have preferred that I had them call me "Miss Winters," but I felt pretty strongly that it was important to put me in a different class than their teachers. The Miss indicates a level of respect, but the first name offers a little more freeness, which I feel fits with the position.
And, interestingly, I'm writing a paper about that very subject for my History of the English Language class--looking at how the kids style shift between the way they talk to their teachers, me, and their friends.
And, relatedly, we're doing a scavenger hunt this afternoon. I'm trying to figure out what the "prize" should be. I'm thinking of just having it be a new Mad Libs book, but I'm not sure the little kids will get as excited about that...
I am for sure "Miss M---" at work. Like Erin, most of my Hispanic students just call me "Miss." Occassionally, they will call me "M&M" and if it's done respectfully, I'm okay with that, too, since it's a shortening of Miss M.
I will occassionally call my students "Miss ---" or "Mr. ----" to model good manners. I also call them "sir" and "ma'am" all the time just to model good manners. And, it sometimes masks the fact that I can't always remember their names! (What?? I have 500 students in a year. Seriously.)
When I moved to North Florida at the age of eight I managed to piss off my third grade teacher FOREVER by not calling her M'am my first day in class.
Mrs. W.: Trudy, you can take your seat now, fourth back in the third row.
Trudy: Thank you
Mrs. W.: Thank you
what
?
Trudy: Thank you... very much?
She
flipped.
And I seriously spent all of third grade (and no other grade ever, mind you) being considered a "discipline problem". It was incredible and a little terrifying. Once I whispered in class and was physically dragged by my arm to the principal's office where I was literally thrown into a chair and screamed at by the two of them. I received an extensive lecture about how I was an unruly child because my Mother didn't paddle me. (Oh, they were right pissed that she'd told them they couldn't.)
When I returned North my teachers started or gave an embarassed laugh when I said Sir and M'am.
So my thoughts on the whole "Sir/M'am" thing are a bit... intense. It's a nice enough custom but that's all it is -- its not actual respect.
My Grandmother went on to teach in that county for a 20+ years. That particular teacher and principal were widely regarded as incompetent. As teachers were hard to find and the Principal was married to a big shot (seriously, she was a political appointee -- weird) however, they both had their jobs until retirement.
Dear God, please keep Barak Obama safe. He's got little kids, and a wife who loves him. He's got work to do here, and I really think he isn't done doing it. Please.
I have those same thoughts, but can't bring myself to write them out. I mean, I now live in DALLAS. I want him to visit, but then I think back to an incident 40 years ago or so, and think "no! Stay away! Don't tempt the gods!" Not that there is some kind of Dallas magnet for that type of thing. Bush has been here loads of times, right?
Oh, I don't require, ask, or even expect my students to call me "ma'am." I just give them the courtesy.
