I was having really weird dreams again. It involved New Orleans, weird injuries and large gatherings.
Yesterday was kind of a futile day.
I went to a job interview at the magic bag, which is a brew and view/nightclub deal. The guy had told me to ring the bell by the box office when I got there, because they wouldn't be opened yet. I rang. No one answered. I rang and waited. Still, no one answered. I rang a third time. I was getting ready to call up on my cell phone, so I could convince myself that I had tried my best, when someone answered the door. I said I was there to see Andy. Andy came down, claimed to not remember scheduling the interview until I described the telephone conversation when he had asked me to come in. "Oh yeah," He said. "Well, the position has most likely be filled, but go ahead and fill it out and we'll talk, in case the person either doesn't work out, or someone quits or gets fired.
So I filled it out. I was a bit annoyed, I might add. After coming clear across town it was irritating to find out that they didn't have a position open. And the fact that they were still collecting applications because they expected a high turn over was a bit off putting.
I met with Andy. We talked for a bit, although not very long. He didn't ask me very many questions, aside from the usual "do you have any questions for me?" (I hate that question! It's like they're looking for a very specific question, based on the ten minutes they've been telling you about the position. When it's for a job like waitress, or receptionist, which are pretty basic "pay the rent" jobs, it's downright insulting.) then said "Yeah, we'll probably have another opening soon. I've done about seventy interviews since placing that ad. In this business, someone is always either quitting or getting fired, so when that happens we won't place another ad, just draw from this stack."
Charming.
Then, Rob and I went by Wayne. The campus itself wasn't bad, I mean there were these cool walkways and such, although the area was a bit seedy, as I've mentioned. Although it's not without a certain charm, having these run down missions and whore houses masquerading as "peep shows" can also be pretty depressing. It's nothing I haven't been around before, but by the same token, I've had my share of that. It no longer feels punk rock to me. I could be around it and be fine, but I'm not so sure that I really want to.
I went to the art building.
The interior of the building looked about as defeated as the neighborhoods that surrounded it. It wasn't in a state of disrepair. It wasn't in a state of anything. The walls were bare, aside for flyers for gallery shows. I guess that could just be the institutional feel of a large state school, but usually the art department of a school has, I don't know, artwork. The only decoration on the wall was a tribute to a fire that had ravaged one of the print shops. There were photographs of the fire, as well as burnt remainders of peoples' possessions.
We looked in the gallery. It was a show for one of the faculty members. This guy, Jim Nawara, that does Bob Ross style paintings of nature that has since been destroyed by industrialization. It reminded me of why I hate when art is made political. It becomes more about the artist's statement and less about the work created. It somehow seems more contrived to me. And the stuff was just not very good.
Throughout the halls, Jim Nawara had flyers for his lecture littered everywhere. You would have thought he was some famous artist from some other city, not a teacher at the school, by the way his lecture was being hyped.
Wayne was disappointing.
Well, I guess that settles it. I'll go to Henry Ford for a year and transfer somewhere else. Maybe UMD (I wasn't enthralled with the campus but I didn't seriously dislike it either.) or maybe Oakland University. I don't mind, I basically liked Henry Ford, even despite what I heard.
Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you about that didn't I?
I read in the dearborn paper that a teacher had been brought up on criminal charges. On September 13 of this past year, he brought in a book entitled "why I am not a muslim". One of his students, a muslim, argued that many muslims are very peace loving people and that the people who made these attacks were not representative of Muslims as a whole. The argument became heated and the teacher physically removed him from his classroom. The student filed charges and is planning a lawsuit.
Now, I'm not sure why a teacher would think he could physically remove a student. I think, in general, that's just wrong. In many cases, it's an abuse of power. Sure, there may be times when a student gets out of control, but if that's the case, then call security. Call someone who is a trained professional in that kind of thing.
It was kind of disheartening to hear. But then I thought about it, and I thought--well, at least I would be going someplace where the students are bright enough to do things like press charges when teachers abuse power. At least it's not Valley, where students don't have enough of an opinion about anything to question how things are done.
Teachers complain about students (and their parents) being quick to sue. Administrations complain about it. They don't get it. The schools are happy to treat you like a customer when tuition is due. But when you're sitting in the classroom, it's a different story. There are some very good teachers but there are also some teachers that are fueled completely by their ego. You can't have it both ways. If post secondary education were paid for completely by taxes, and were free, then maybe the teachers would have a right to say "you aren't a customer, you're a student, and you have to play by my rules no matter how ludicrous". But the fact is, students are customers. If I'm taking out a loan, or if I'm paying for it out of my pocket, then it's my money being spent on the education. My presence in that classroom means they get paid. I'm where they earn their living just in the same way that a bartender earns their living off of my tips or one of Sprint's call center reps earns a living, in a roundabout way, through my using their phone service.
And as long as schools charge tuition, they'll be prone to the same threats of lawsuits as the phone company or a landlord, when they abuse power or fail to give the promised service.
I'm not sure what this teacher was thinking. Making a comment like that, at such a sensitive and volatile time, at a school that exists in a community with a high population of Muslims. I realize that the teacher was probably upset about what happened, but if a teacher can't distinguish between what will foster learning and discussion, and will just create a hostile classroom environment, perhaps he shouldn't be teaching.
