moments of hope for our future

i know that my last post denied it, but there is no point in that now. david and i have called it quits. For the last time, all you sarcastic children out there who rolled your eyes! But this is not the main purpose of this post (however, the world of online dating may be a subject for several future posts!).
The purpose of this post relates to my students. I have one student, we will call him Drake for the sake of the story. Drake has been one of the lovely children that has perpetuated my fake prejudice against blonde adolescent males under 5'2". He loves to be out of his seat when he shouldn't be, loves to say really disrupting remarks when i'm talking which then takes me a few minutes before i can get the class on track. He likes to do bizarre things with desks, which include riding them like a motorcycle, using them as a dance floor and my personal least favorite, humping them. His mother heard about the last one, it hasn't happened since. However, like any 13 year old boy he loves to find opportunities to be inappropriate in ways he doesn't completely understand. In spite of all that I really actually love this kid.
So now that we all have a clear view of him in our head- picture him in class being obnoxious. When the conversation turns towards Cecily, which the kids know i have a weakness for off task discussion when it comes to her the kids try to keep the conversation going they by asking about david, and ask "isn't he your boyfriend?" to which i replied, since i was still reeling from it myself, that i was single as of the day before (easter, mind you. EASTER. in a hospital after i visited his grandpa. yeah. classy). i laughed it off, well because honestly, the whole situation is so awful it can only be hilarious at this point, so the class laughed with me and still tease me about it when they get a chance (seriously, they will just yell easter! at me while walking down the hall. gotta love middle schoolers).
We continued on with class after a minute and it seemed like an uneventful class. i didn't wallow in pity and we got some work done. After class everyone left and my next period class shuffled in. i didn't notice Drake leaving, but i saw him coming back into the room. My first reaction was something akin to fear, i never know what this kid will do. Drake simply walked up to me at my desk, gave me a big hug, and walked out the door. No comment, no calling attention to himself. Simply a moment of pure concern for someone else and doing all that a little 13 year old boy could do about it.
So here is my testimonial: our future is in good hands. Moments like these are priceless indicators of the compassion and caring nature of our future generation. So the next time you see some obnoxious kids at the mall (as they are wont to be), or children that seem to have no sense doing some activity that seems to ensure bodily harm, please remember that in those insane little bodies is a kind and generous soul. And if they knew you needed one, would give you a big heart-melting hug in an instant. i just hope they can say the same about us.

Why Instant Messaging Scares the Crap Out of Me

So I recently joined an online dating service. If you know me and my relationship situation don't freak out, it was out of curiosity and he's as interested in the craziness as I am. However I was faced with a fear that I have avoided since high school... instant messaging. In high school it was cool because you would do it late at night when you weren't allowed to be on the phone and you would say things that you would never say out loud and you felt rebellious. K, that was my experience. I was a little sheltered and dorky.
Now that I have gained a small level maturity I no longer feel the need to say risque things and giggle about it with my friends. I can text and do that. No really, haven't you ever texted someone sitting in the same room something that you can't say out loud? If you say you haven't you're lying. What I think terrifies me about instant messaging is the word instant. I go on facebook to stalk people without ever having to talk to them and suddenly I get a little message and I have to get back to that person immediately no matter how boring, uninteresting, or creepy their conversation is. Which brings us full circle to the dating site. There are perfect strangers who, let's be frank, are trying to get into your pants, writing to you. And you have to respond instantly! And you have to be open minded because you're on a dating website. That whole "those who live in glass houses" sort of thing. So I can't say "leave me alone you creep!" because I'm actually on the website, I'm asking for creeps. So what do you do? So far I have just ignored them. I'm sure that they have sent out a warning to all other prospectives saying "stay away, she doesn't return IM's." Which is fine because if you can instant message a stranger at 11:30 at night and say "hey girl.." I'm probably not the one for you and neither are half the girls on the dating site.
And don't knock me for being on a dating website at 11:30 at night, boredom hits, okay? and I have to clean out all of those emails about winking. Please please don't get me started on the winking. It's pointless and, again, creepy. So I clean out my dating site emails and bam, an IM. It's enough to make me quit the dating website world, which is probably why I won't. Seriously, it's real entertainment. And maybe a nice little boost for your ego. "Hey gurrl.."