Yesterday we established that American fossil-fuel apologists say the same shit they always did.
American educators, too!
My daughter attends one of Chicago's best public high schools. It's huge—almost 5,000 students from all over the city—more like a college experience, really. And competitive: The dumb kids take Honors classes. The smart ones take AP. Scout handles it all well enough, cuz she grew up in Chicago—but it's kind of intimidating for a little ole Ohio feller like me.
So it comes as a kind of relief to me, to note that the well-meaning administrators of this school put out a weekly email that's just as dumb as whatever they were mimeographing at Hudson High when I was a shaver.
In fact, today's administrators are actually dumb in a new way!
Because buried under the reader-retardant jumble of exam schedules, sports-team kudos, food drives, plastic bag drives, tampon/pad/diapers-for-the-homeless drives, tutor availability, counselor availability, Autism Awareness Month, suicide hotlines and lost & found and volunteer opportunities … is a little thing some nameless numbnuts administrator likes to call, "The Human Value of the Week."
You know those hapless bumper stickers that command us to, "Start seeing motorcycles"? These missives are like, "Start seeing morality."
"Dearest Students! For this week we invite you to practice and share the value of 'Being Present' by posting the following value and quote on your whiteboards. Thank you for giving meaning to each moment!"
And actually, according to the nameless administrator, "Being Present" is a "sub-value" to a "universal human value," of "Peace."
Mindfulness now!
There's also a Thought of the Week, from the Dalai Lama: “Today is the right day to Love, Believe, Do and mostly Live.”
Well hello, Dalai!
And of course there must also be an objective: "To find peace by embracing the moment rather than escaping from it."
What if the moment is, you're vaping weed in your locker?
Another week, another human value:
For this week we invite you to practice and share the value of “Hope” by posting the following value and quote where you will see it daily.
Universal Human Value: Love
Sub-Value: Hope
Thought of the week: Be the light in dark places.
Objective: To believe in tomorrow when the present day is difficult. Let the true you shine out to inspire others to make it just one more day 🙂
And Mister Rogers is misquoted, without attribution: "You have made this a beautiful day just by being you. There is no one else like you in the whole world and I like you just the way you are."
Next!
This week we lovingly invite you to practice the value of "Respect for the Earth" by writing the following values and quotes somewhere you will see them every day. Thank you for teaching others through your actions.
Universal Human Value: Love
Sub-Value: Respect for our Earth
Thought of the week: Treat the Earth like a loved one.
Objective: To feel connected to the Earth and take responsibility out of love and respect to help it stay healthy.
It's hard to feel one with nature at the corner of Western and Addison. It's easier to start seeing motorcycles. (Secondly, we already do treat the earth like we treat our loved ones. That's the problem.)
This week we invite you to practice the value of "Unconditional Love" by posting it where you will see it every day. Thank you for teaching from the heart and forgiving quickly.
Universal Human Value: Right Action
Sub-Value: Unconditional Love
Thought of the week: Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. – Martin Luther King, Jr.
Objective: To transform the heart of others through Unconditional Love instead of threat or fear.
I'd rather read Trump's Twitter feed, which has a firmer grasp on reality and a sense of humor—and the same copyeditor.
For this week we invite you to practice and share the value of “Perseverance” by posting the following value and quote somewhere you will see it daily. Thank you for everything you have overcome to make it to this moment.
Universal Human Value: Right Action
Sub-Value: Perseverance
Thought of the week: Never Give Up
Objective: To continue on the path towards the goal we have chosen in our hearts. If we change our goal let it be out of love of another goal rather than fear of failure.
And nobody walks the talk on perseverance like the writer of the Human Value of the Week …
Universal Human Value: Peace
Sub-Value: Moderation
Thought of the week: Just enough.
Objective: Enjoying the wonderful things about life in moderation allows us to have enough to share.
Or as we said in high school back in my day, "Pass it to me gentle, pass it to me slow. Take time out to smile a little before you let it go …"
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