"Victoria Heller" wrote: > Atherton proves that "there's no OFF on the genius switch." > > Thanks Michael for opening our minds. Let's hope that a few of them don't > revert to their original sizes.
You know, all this back and forth between the sarcasm and the irony reminds me a lot of the high school I dropped out of. A high school much like any other, where one was suppose to know their place in the hierarchy. A nerd had boundaries and one of them was not dating above your level. The 60s disrupted the social castes of the 50s and if you were a little cerebral and you weren't "straight," meaning you used drugs, you could actually find yourself dating people beyond your wildest dreams. So it was during one of those weeks that I was charmed by the attentions of one of the most desired girls on campus. She had just broken up with a guy so cool that he wasn't even a member of the local gang, his younger brother was. And it was his younger brother and a few of his friends who needed to teach me that one should not aspire beyond one's social ranking. It was the year that I learned that I could never actually stab another human being and that in the face of overwhelming odds you can't always count on your best friends to be there when you need them. It's kinda sad too, given that I really was such a nerd that all she and I had ever done was be a little close to each other, although it never really seemed to matter. I dropped out the next year believing that smart could never really get you much, and spent the next ten years of my life establishing my credentials as a tough guy. Although I have a few entertaining stories to tell over beers, it was for the most part kind of a waste. I did learn how to drive truck and get to see most of the country. And now I do understand blue collar and could, at the time, stand my ground with some pretty scary people. But it put me ten years beyond my peers who were never taught the sin of being smart beyond your means. It also makes me sad to think that in times even more violent, that many young people are forced to reject the opportunities that are presented to them because of a code of failure. These days I don't pay too much attention to people who are concerned about how smart I am, one way or the other. I don't worry too much about how smart other people are. Intelligence seems to have little to do with how stupid your behavior is at times, or how small of a person you are. What I worry about is kids wasting their lives on nothing, for nothing. And, I'd like to do something about that. It's kind of a promise that I've never kept. So if that means taking on the educational establishment, the Star Triune, the DFL, and a few hecklers on a political list server then that's the way it's gotta be. Michael Atherton http://QualityEd.US Candidate for Minneapolis School Board Prospect Park ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Prepared and paid for by the Atherton for MPS Committee. 156 Orlin Ave SE, Mpls, MN 55414 _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
