Progress

“Is it progress if a cannibal uses a fork?”

-Stanislaw J. Lec

Unnatural causes

“The end of the human race will be that it will eventually die of civilization.”

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

As himself

“Man is the religious animal. He is the only religious animal that has the true religion — several of them. He is the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself and cuts his throat if his theology isn’t straight.”

-Mark Twain

Contradictory

At recent parent/teacher conferences for our older son, we heard things like this:
“a really nice kid”
“a pleasure to have in class”
“never disruptive”
“has natural aptitude”
“so much potential”
“participates in discussions”
“catches on quickly”
“scores well on tests”
“bright, bright boy”

But every one of the teachers also said things like this:

“doesn’t do his homework”
“highly disorganized”
“turns in assignments late, if at all”
“skips over preliminary work”
“often unprepared”

I’ve got to tell you, it’s frustrating. My boy has a real aversion to homework, and an overwhelming capacity for denial about its importance. Once he gets to college, there won’t be as much of a “homework” issue. He’ll be able to go to class, read the texts, absorb the material, and take the tests. Of course there will still be papers to write and so forth, but, on the whole, there will be less of what he considers “busy work.” However, if he doesn’t start doing a better job on his homework now, he’s not going to have the grades to get into the college of his choice.

Naturally, he isn’t receptive to hearing any of this. Kids!

Lost and found

A practically new pair of men’s athletic shoes (perhaps the most comfortable pair of shoes ever purchased) is left behind in a church gym.

A just-purchased Dead Kennedy’s sweatshirt (long coveted and saved for by the young man who wore it in, but not out) is left behind in a (different) church gym.

A small and stylish purse, complete with ID, credit cards, PDA, money, and other assorted valuables, is left behind on a waiting area bench in a busy post office.

While my family’s propensity for forgetting things is certainly worrisome, I find it more unsettling that the items left behind at church were never seen again (at least, not by us). Thankfully, the purse was returned with nothing missing.