Three Jobs Everyone Should Work

I started working for someone other than my parents when I was 14 years old and got a job doing whatever my neighbor’s dad was doing at the time. Since that time, I have probably worked for about ten different companies doing all sorts of things to ensure that I had the money to pay my bills and live comfortably.  Yesterday, I went to a job fair in Raleigh (a little bit of a bust unless I wanted to sell cell phones or insurance) and as I drove the three and a half hours home, I had time to reflect on what I have learned from each job that I’ve worked. As I reflected, I realized that there are three types of jobs in particular that have shaped how I interact with workers on a daily basis. I believe that if everyone at worked these jobs at some point in their lives, it would yield a much more calm and understanding community of people who are more genuine when they say “have a good one” before leaving a store.

1. Serving

The Job: I have served in environments ranging from high class restaurants to casual bars and have found one commonality in all my serving jobs: sometimes customers are jerks. In every place that I have worked, servers make just enough money on their paychecks to cover the taxes that have to be paid; if you aren’t making tips, then you aren’t actually making money. So many things can slow a server down, from the kitchen making a mistake on an order because they are overwhelmed to a hostess double (or triple) seating you; that is giving you multiple new tables at the same time. I have only ever worked in one restaurant that had strict “sections;” an area in which all your tables are sat so that they are conveniently located near each other. In the other places that I have worked, my tables could have been anywhere in the restaurant. If a table on one side of the restaurant needs ranch for their fries, a table on the other side of the restaurant just got sat and needs their drink order taken, and the food just dropped for the table upstairs, it is easy to find the weeds.

Quick Notes!

Wonderful readers, I regret to inform you that today’s post will be a few hours late! I spent most of Tuesday (aka writing day) in Raleigh at a job fair, and when I finally got home the quality of my writing was not up to my own standards. As soon as I get home tonight, I will be editing what I wrote and posting it! Sincerest of apologies for the tardy posting!

Additionally, the name of the blog will be changing tonight to “Scrumming with Shakespeare.” While I have loved writing for “Rucking English,” not enough people know what a ruck is and it sounds too much like a naughty word. Since the secondary purpose of this blog is to showcase my writing, it behooves me to not potentially turn off employers. My twitter account (if you follow me or are interested in following me) that I have had for a whole week will also be changing to “Shakespeare and Scrums.”

Thanks for the support and understanding!

The Three Things I’ll Miss the Most About Teaching

Depending on the source you believe, between 40% and 50% of teachers will leave the classroom in their first five years. In just over a month, I will be adding to that particular statistic by leaving teaching, possibly permanently. This will have been my fifth year teaching and the decision to change careers has not been one that came easily. It seems like each year there are more and more articles published in which former teachers and soon-to-be former teachers explain all the reasons why they are leaving teaching. At this point, it has all been said, often by professionals more eloquent and intelligent than I am.  If you want to know some of the reasons that so many teachers are leaving, Google “Why teachers quit” or check out this article, or this one, or this one. While those three articles range from informative to regretful to scathing and all have some viewpoints that I have shared at one time or another, I would rather end my tenure by reflecting on the three things I’ll miss the most.

1. The Kids (Most of the Time)

First off, it is time to admit that not all students get along with all teachers. Just like with adults, there are people you like and people you do not like. However, for the most part, I really like a lot of my kids, especially the ones who fly under the radar. By that I mean the kids who show up, do their work, laugh at my corny jokes, and are generally successful. Those are the students I feel bad for as I have to stop what I am doing and discipline the same students for the eighth time in a week.

This is what you get for assigning homework.

Realistically, even some of the students who are “problem children” are some of my favorites. As a grown up ADHD kid, I fully understand the ones who are bouncing off of the walls and need to roam the classroom a bit more. Teaching primarily freshmen over the past five years has allowed me to see some very bright and interesting young people (especially the problem children) mature and develop into impressive young men and women. I will really miss trying to push kids out of their comfort zone and helping guide the ones who are willing to take that push and run with it.

The Three Things It Took Me Years to Realize that I Learned From My Little Brother’s Death

First off, apologies for another late Wednesday post; the personal gravity of my topic this week has caused me to spend a lot more time planning, editing, and revising (PDREPing, as it were). This post is something that I feel inclined to share, especially given the emotions and feelings that I know many of my friends are currently experiencing. There is also the fact that yesterday my little brother, Alex, would have turned 27. It’s been just over eleven years since he died in February of my senior year of high school. Being a stereotypical man who invented the wheel and built the Eiffel Tower out of metal and brawn, I bottled up a lot of the things I was experiencing at that point, so I am still processing them to this day. I attempted to throw this stuff in a list, but so many of the feelings and ideas are intertwined that it became complicated to differentiate the points. So I guess you should hold onto your butts, because here we go…

I promise there will be no Velociraptors…this time.

1. No Matter Your Age, Death Ages You Further

I was seventeen years old when my brother died in a car accident. I can tell you almost all the details about that day from the CD I was listening to in the car (Powerman 5000…leave me alone, I was in high school) to how long I was in class before being pulled out (less than fifteen minutes) to the way my little brother looked in the hospital. I wasn’t allowed to see him until after my parents arrived at the hospital, despite the fact that I got there almost an hour before them. I still remember what I was told by my father and a coach that I respected greatly: this has made you a man.

It sounds melodramatic, but was more than a bit true. I forced myself into a stoic portrait of all the manliest men that I had seen in movies and on TV. You know the scene in which a man turns from a situation and the camera catches a single tear fall from his eye? That is what 17 year old me thought I was doing. That also meant reading a eulogy at my brother’s funeral, acting like I was not destroyed by the situation, and bottling away all shows of emotion that I could possibly hide. It wasn’t until I arrived at college that I realized how much I really had been changed by the situation. I certainly don’t claim that I was the model of maturity throughout my college years, but I felt as though I carried an extra weight throughout those years. My ability to compartmentalize the situation helped me, but not everyone is me…

The Four Things that Young Men Can Learn from Fantasy Novels

In news that is not a shock to anyone who knows me, I spent a lot of time in trouble as a kid. I was rebellious, stubborn, and (to quote my mother) “lacking in any tact at all,” all traits that I am still waiting to grow out of. When I was grounded to my room (which was often), I had no TV, no cell phone, no video game system, and definitely no computer or internet access. However, what I did have was a shelf of books and could usually convince my dad to let me borrow some of his when I ran out of things I wanted to read.

A couple quick disclaimers before I get to this fancy list of mine. First off, I am going to be discussing a lot of things that happen in two sets of pretty commonly read fantasy series: The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter along with a few events from other novels. If you haven’t read those books before, crawl out of your cave and get on it! I mean at least check out the movies. You also may not want to read any more of this post.  There are probably spoilers here, but they are necessary. “But I want to read your blog!” you desperately say? That’s cool. Check out some of the old posts, like the one where I talk to myself or the one with all the ways to fix modern sports.

The second thing to keep in mind is that I am a man. When I pitched the idea for this week’s post to my girlfriend, she asked why I am focusing on young men. The best answer I can give you is this: I can only tell you why I believe young men should read these novels based on my own experience, and since my experience as a young female is severely lacking, I can’t speak to experiences with the ladies. If you have more experience growing up as a member of the double x chromosomed population, feel free to drop a comment on here letting me know how much of this applies to you!

Without further ado, my nerd card is being renewed below. Read on while I grab my glasses, pocket protector, and dice with too many sides.

1. When the Going Gets Tough, the Hobbits Save the Day (or Something Like That)

I believe Shakespeare was the first author to pen the lines “Crap rolleth downhill” or something of the like. Some days/weeks/years are just rough, especially for the walking hormone smoothies that are teenage boys. As a teacher/coach/retired teenager, I totally understand that. Nevertheless, you have to persevere through the difficult times or accept an inability to ever accomplish anything, a task modeled fully in fantasy novels.

It’s a fairly common element of literature that the protagonist has to hit a low spot before the climax and redemption, but who could ever have more persistence than Frodo from The Lord of the Rings? Frodo crosses miles upon miles, covered in cliffs, swamps, and volcanic ash, all to save the world at the risk of his own life and sanity. As he journeys closer and closer to Mt. Doom in Mordor, the ring gets heavier, much as our tasks appear more difficult when closest to their achievement. Yet Frodo, a simple hobbit from the Shire, is able to destroy the ring (with the help of Gollum’s pearly yellows) and save Middle Earth. Admittedly, no man (or hobbit) is an island, and even Frodo needed the help and support of Sam, bringing me to my next point…