An incident at work

Yesterday was the first day back at school for teachers, a day of welcomes and workshops. It was great to be back and see everyone. It was the usual stuff that teachers hear every year, and work very hard not to zone out during every year. ;) Went to lunch had a good time, though the restaurant really messed up, and we were all late getting back. The boss was very understanding.

At the end of the day we were all released to work in our rooms, as I worked I heard a co-worker make a comment I found a bit upsetting. If you are from Texas you know, that the legislature just passed a law adding "under God" to the Texas pledge. My co-worker said "I'm happy about the change in the pledge". That I don't have a problem with, though I did find it mildly disturbing. What really bothered me was what she said next, "It serves the jerks right for trying to take God out of everything." I was a bit shocked and a bit offended. I very much wanted to confront her, but bit my tongue, she wasn't addressing me and I knew my temper was too high.

Our government is suppose to be a secular government, no state or federal religion so that all religions and cultures feel welcome and included. I very much want to ask how she would feel if the city, state, or federal government added a line asking people to swear on Buddha, Vishnu, or Allah. Most likely she would be deeply offended. It saddens me that so many can not put themselves in other people's shoes and understand where other people are coming from.

I've heard some people say that the God in the pledge is a general god idea. I can say with a fair amount of certainty that outside of the Christian faith the capital "G" god refers specifically to the Christian/Jewish god. Other religions use the specific name of the god they are referring to. I've tried to explain it this way. If you are talking about your own mom, you say or write "Mom", when you talk about all moms it is a lowercase m.

Musings

Went to the eye doctor yesterday to get me and the girl's eyes checked. I had been hoping that she would escape the family's bad eyes. No such luck, though I seemed to have caught it at the very beginning, hopefully it will help slow down her eyes getting worse. Found her some really cute frames. I'm wearing contacts today for the first time in about 6 years. I got some great glasses too, very sassy!

Today was 8th grade play day, kind of an 8th grade graduation without the cheesy ceremony. We rent out the Palm Beach section of Moody Gardens. The teachers get to go relax in the sun and ignore the students, the lifeguards supervise. It's awesome! On the way home, a coworker said something very interesting. She was talking about how she has a very addictive personality. She'll try something just once, and if it's really good she just can't give it up. One example she gave was this olive dip stuff for bagels that she ate for breakfast for 5 years. She said the only way she can give these things up is to use Lint, because her "addiction to God" is stronger than any other. I thought this was a very interesting way to phrase it.