On This Veteran's Day

I substituted at the high school today.  I've been substituting for just over a year now and it's been an eye-opening experience.  It's interesting to be at this stage in life, observing those who are now going through that phase that I remember so fondly.  I loved school.  I wasn't the tippy-top of my class, but I feel I was a hard worker and I was successful.  I was involved in extracurricular activities and competed in scholastic events. I had good relationships with my teachers and the school administration.  A few students have asked on occasion, "Were you a good student?"  I reply with a smile and a simple, "Yes," when in the back of my mind I'm questioning them, "Do you think I would have come back if I hadn't been?" 

I feel like most kids in my day were like me.  Average.  There were a good handful who were on the more tippy-top end of the spectrum, and a struggling few who lacked the desire to succeed, but for the most part the majority of us were average.  I wish I could say the same about kids in high school now.  Of course my opinion is based on a limited amount of information since I'm only a substitute, and of course it is likely that the students' actions are not typical when a substitute is around.  I also realize every student struggles with one subject or another.  My battle was history/geography/social studies.  But even in classes I struggled with, I tried.  I did my best.

It doesn't seem to be that way these days.  My blood boils when I see the majority of a class spending the entire class period chatting amongst each other or on their phones.  When a specific assignment is easily completable and due at the end of class and only two students finish it.  Two.  When I tell the class to ask if they have questions, give the class time warnings (i.e. "You have thirty minutes to finish your assignment"), and ten minutes before class finishes, after talking to their friends for over an hour, students ask, "What if I don't know how to do it?"  I tell them, "Find someone who does," when in the back of my mind I'm thinking, "Sorry kid, you had your chance.  It's your grade, not mine or any one else's.  You should have been responsible enough to ask for help when you realized you needed it over an hour ago."

While sweeping my floor when I got home I was thinking about Veteran's Day.  I was thinking about what life was like before our country won its freedom.  What life is still like in some parts of the world where freedom is non existent.  How will I help my children appreciate the freedoms they will enjoy every day of their lives?  How could I ever mock a day in the life of someone without those freedoms? 

I still remember an important life lesson I learned in fifth grade. My teacher, Mr. Bobby (Drake), had a "No Rules Day."  We brought CD players, junk food, sleeping bags and bean bags, magazines, more junk food, you name it.  No rules!?  Best day ever, right?  So we thought.  No homework, no schedules, nothing.  And then recess came.  Mr. Bobby always jumped in to play football with us, and being the large-in-stature man that he was, he was always the most-wanted player and was usually the desired receiver since he could out run everyone.  The quarterback passed the ball to him, he caught it, and ran for a touchdown.  Someone touched him with both hands which meant he was "down," but he kept running.  Those of us on the opposite team yelled at him, "He touched you!  You're down!"  He smiled and kept running, "There are no rules!!"

That day was almost 20 years ago and it seared a moral into my brain that I still reflect on.  I wish there were some way to similarly impress upon young peoples' minds how blessed and fortunate they are to have freedom.  Freedom that was not always existent.  Freedom that men and women of our country fought for and in some cases died for.  Our young people have never had to live without it so to them it's an entitlement.  "You can't tell me what to do, it's a free country."  Where will our country end up with that belief at the heart of it's future leaders?  I believe it will crumble.  It will fail.

Without expectations, directions, or discipline, even mediocrity will be difficult to achieve.  That's not what our Veteran's fought/are fighting for.  They've sacrificed everything they have for this country to be incomparable.  To have all rights and opportunities mankind could ever ask for.  To stand above and achieve the unachievable.  If our young people take their freedom for granted, none of those things will ever be possible.

I hope to instill true appreciation for freedom in my own children.  I hope to help them realize the opportunities that have been granted them because of it and I'm going to encourage them to make the most of those opportunities.  I am so grateful for the men and women who sacrifice their time, emotional and mental health, family memories, and in some cases their lives for our sakes. 

May we never desecrate their service.

"American Soldier"
by Toby Keith

I'm just trying to be a father,
Raise a daughter and a son,
Be a lover to their mother,
Everything to everyone.
Up and at 'em bright and early,
I'm all business in my suit,
Yeah, I'm dressed up for success from my head down to my boots,

I don't do it for the money, there's bills that I can't pay,
I don't do it for the glory, I just do it anyway,
Providing for our future's my responsibility,
Yeah I'm real good under pressure, being all that I can be,

I can't call in sick on Mondays when the weekend's been too strong,
I just work straight through the holidays,
Sometimes all night long.
You can bet that I stand ready when the wolf growls at the door.
Hey, I'm solid, hey, I'm steady, hey, I'm true down to the core.

And I will always do my duty, no matter what the price.
I've counted up the cost, I know the sacrifice.
Oh, and I don't want to die for you,
But if dying's asked of me,
I'll bear that cross with honor,
'Cause freedom don't come free.

I'm an American soldier, an American,
Beside my brothers and my sisters I will proudly take a stand,
When liberty's in jeopardy I will always do what's right,
I'm out here on the front lines. Sleep in peace tonight.
American soldier, I'm an American soldier.