A co-worker recently asked me to talk about the Red Sox. I told her it was too soon. This was yesterday.
It's a little embarrassing to be a Sox fan right now. It's like bringing someone to a bar you know everyone hates, and you sort of hate them too, but you still owe them a round from a few months back. But as soon as you walk into the bar, you remember this person would never get you back for anything anyway.
What a lot of people don't know about teachers, is we are all maniacally baseball fans. We do get a big promotion of the season off. Many of us became teachers for this reason. So the ten seconds spent away from children, we talk baseball. This Red Sox team is like the notorious class that sends all their teachers to early retirement or law school.
The most shocking moment of my first year of teaching was a comment made by a student. It was a Friday and no one was listening. I had the students come sit on the rug in a circle.
The answer I got was this.
“Be mean. You got to give detentions and yell Ms. Kimpel. Otherwise we won’t listen.”
“How many of you agree?” I asked the rest of the class.
I was surprised by how many students raised their hands.
So when I imagine the Red Sox, I imagine them all sitting on the rug, criss-cross apple sauce. Francona holding a meeting. Asking these enormous kids what it would take for them to listen.
“Be mean.” Pedroia says.
I tell my students responsibility and choice are things you have to earn in life. Thinking about the future of the Red Sox, I think we need to rework the budget. Give less money to the players. Put some aside for behavioral specialists. And maybe a detention monitor.
