So yeah I realise its been a while...
It has been a crazy couple of weeks of work-filled wonder. Actually strike that. I am not a Disney Imagineer and as such my job does not involve much wonder. It involves work. Lots of it lately. Because of this my posting has suffered. I apologise.
I was brought out of my non-posting ways by a reader of this blog who is not my direct family. He reads loyally and even seems to be watching the TV shows I have recommended (American Horror Story for the win - which by the way is back with a twist. Jessica Lange will be the main character this time with Zachery Q as her nemesis but they are not playing the same characters they played in the first season. Is this the first time there has been a season two with the same actors now playing different characters. Is that going to mess people up? Debate amongst yourselves. I think the answer is clear - they will both be evil twins of their first season characters to add to the soap operay goodness that is American Horror Story).
Anyways...in honour of this reader I want to say I am back and will be posting more regularly.
Today's topic: Kids = plague rats.
Now I love my son. He is just starting to walk and talk. He is awfully cute. But he is without a doubt patient zero for the plague. Before he was born I would never get sick. I was a super-human. I looked down at those who got sick and prided myself on my amazing tolerance to what felled the 'weaker' ones. Little did I know that these 'weaker' people were simply parents.
You see since my son has been born I have been taken down twice with what I can only describe as the plague. This may be aided by the fact that he thinks everything is a popsicle to be licked.
This weekend I was minding my own business and shopping with my wife at Winners when suddenly I felt that I shouldn't be at Winners anymore. I was shaking and nauseous. We left soon after that. The rest of the day was not very good. All of this I am sure is from my little son who the day before had had a little bit of a stomach virus.
I think the better weapon of mass destruction is a squadron of two year olds holding out their jammy hands and advancing on an unsuspecting population to hug and kiss them while silently dispatching opposition with their adorable viruses.
All this got me to thinking that Dalton McGuinty is really an ass. Recently, he has been calling on teachers to take a pay freeze and give up other entitlements in order to do their part to achieve fiscal responsibility and keep full-day kindergarten. I think this is a bad idea for all sorts of reasons. However, it occurred to me that it is also not recognizing the full danger we put our teachers in.
You see, one of the things that he is saying should be taken away is the amount of sick days that teachers get. After experiencing what my singular son gave me I can't imagine what it is that teachers get from an army of 24 kids (or I guess now 26 kids since we are also raising class sizes).
It is a wonder that they do not get hazard pay.
Honestly, teachers may be important in that they teach the next generation (and all that good stuff), but we can't forget what kindergarten really is. It is the front line in an ongoing battle of biological warfare. Taking away sick days is equivalent to taking away a bullet proof vest from a soldier and sending him off into war.
After having experienced it for myself, I for one am not begrudging teachers their sick days.
For those that do, I think my son wants to give you a big kiss!
I think Dalton McGuinty should take a pay freeze
ReplyDeleteVery insightful comment - See below:
ReplyDeleteTORONTO, Nov. 14, 2011 /CNW/ - On Remembrance Day the Ontario Liberal government quietly announced pay raises of between $16,000 and $49,000 for 29 MPP who will become parliamentary assistants to a slimmed down Ontario cabinet of just 22 members.
"By this bold signal that the austerity agenda stops at Ontario's borders, the Liberal caucus sends a message of hope to the poorest in Ontario," said Michael Hurley, President of CUPE's Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU). "These increases of between 14 per cent and 42 per cent would make such an enormous difference if they were also applied to people receiving social assistance and disability benefits."
The 29 parliamentary assistants will receive an additional $16,667 on top of an MPP's salary of $116,000. The whip will receive an additional $21,000 and cabinet members an additional $49,000, also on a base salary of $116,000. Only 1 of 53 Liberal MPPs will not receive a substantial increase, making this an unprecedented announcement in its scope. Effectively, 98 per cent of the Liberal caucus has been reclassified and given a pay raise.
I guess we should just reclassify teachers and then give them a pay bump. I guess this would only be allowed if they were liberal members (wait, arn't teachers exactly who the liberals would in the past count as stalwart members?)