Last week I went a bit ballistic on Good Morning UpCountry about a planned resort in Pickens County. It is to be a posh, waterfront retreat…………a place set aside for some very special people. A place they can go to unwind because they’re overworked and under appreciated.
I’m speaking of teachers of course. And, yes, this proposed resort is posh. It comes with a price tag of about $25 Million. They hope that a lot of that price tag will be covered by private donations but acknowledge that state funds may have to be involved as well.
And, why would I be upset about that? Why would I begrudge the poor teachers having a resort to call their own?
The short answer is………….I don’t. I know the job can be stressful. I know that some teachers care deeply about their students. They work very hard to impart knowledge and to also teach life lessons.
But……….when I think of stress, real stress, I don’t usually think of a teacher. I suppose it all depends on how you define stress.
Put yourself in the position of a police officer. She’s been dispatched to a home where she’s told a domestic violence incident is underway. She steps up on the porch and knocks on the door. It opens. It wasn’t even fully closed. And then she hears the unmistakable sound of the hammer of a pistol being cocked. That’s stress.
Or there’s the medic who arrives on the scene of an accident and moments later finds himself in a fight against death……..trying to keep a badly injured four year old alive. Everything thing he’s tried is failing. The child is dying before his eyes and in his arms. Out of the corner of his ear he hears the child's Mother calling for her baby. Yeah…………that’s stress.
Or how about one of your young soldiers in the National Guard. We, as a state, dressed them up and sent them off to Afghanistan. Some of them never came back. I know…….I was at their funerals. Some who did come back have seen too much violence and too much death. Some have spent hours gripped by terror, hiding behind a rock that wasn’t quite wide enough as bullets whizzed by on either side. Big time stress.
So, where is the posh resort we built for those soldiers who protect us from enemies we cannot begin to imagine?
Where’s the retreat for the paramedic, the firefighter, the police officer, the soldier?
No. We don’t have one. And nobody is out trying to raise funds for one. Maybe we’ll get to that once we have a resort built for teachers.
I value teachers and I know that some are asked to perform miracles……….and somehow do it. I also know that some of them never know stress unless the heated seats in the BMW don’t work one morning.
No, don’t ask for my contribution and do not even think about using tax dollars. Not unless and until you have cared for those who risk their lives. Until then, the idea of a resort set aside only for teachers is insulting.
I’m speaking of teachers of course. And, yes, this proposed resort is posh. It comes with a price tag of about $25 Million. They hope that a lot of that price tag will be covered by private donations but acknowledge that state funds may have to be involved as well.
And, why would I be upset about that? Why would I begrudge the poor teachers having a resort to call their own?
The short answer is………….I don’t. I know the job can be stressful. I know that some teachers care deeply about their students. They work very hard to impart knowledge and to also teach life lessons.
But……….when I think of stress, real stress, I don’t usually think of a teacher. I suppose it all depends on how you define stress.
Put yourself in the position of a police officer. She’s been dispatched to a home where she’s told a domestic violence incident is underway. She steps up on the porch and knocks on the door. It opens. It wasn’t even fully closed. And then she hears the unmistakable sound of the hammer of a pistol being cocked. That’s stress.
Or there’s the medic who arrives on the scene of an accident and moments later finds himself in a fight against death……..trying to keep a badly injured four year old alive. Everything thing he’s tried is failing. The child is dying before his eyes and in his arms. Out of the corner of his ear he hears the child's Mother calling for her baby. Yeah…………that’s stress.
Or how about one of your young soldiers in the National Guard. We, as a state, dressed them up and sent them off to Afghanistan. Some of them never came back. I know…….I was at their funerals. Some who did come back have seen too much violence and too much death. Some have spent hours gripped by terror, hiding behind a rock that wasn’t quite wide enough as bullets whizzed by on either side. Big time stress.
So, where is the posh resort we built for those soldiers who protect us from enemies we cannot begin to imagine?
Where’s the retreat for the paramedic, the firefighter, the police officer, the soldier?
No. We don’t have one. And nobody is out trying to raise funds for one. Maybe we’ll get to that once we have a resort built for teachers.
I value teachers and I know that some are asked to perform miracles……….and somehow do it. I also know that some of them never know stress unless the heated seats in the BMW don’t work one morning.
No, don’t ask for my contribution and do not even think about using tax dollars. Not unless and until you have cared for those who risk their lives. Until then, the idea of a resort set aside only for teachers is insulting.
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