Saturday morning. Sofa. Coffee
Oneonta is a small town. When the Highway 75 traffic increases by a couple of hundred cars and a fleet of yellow buses twice a day it is noticeable. School has started.
It has been awhile since I had to worry about starting back to school at the end of the summer. But I still sympathize with those kids in the buses and in the back seats of cars headed down the highway on these first few days. I get nauseated for them. Life is changing again. It is time to pack away the freedom of summer with the bathing suits, baseball gloves and clothing that would not meet any school's dress code.
Under penalty of law these sweet children must get up every morning with the sun, leave the security of their home and arrive at school by 7:50 or whatever the random time is this year. They must dress according to rules set by the man or be subject to punishment, and after repeated offenses, suspension. They are told what items of personal property they can bring with them.
And they must behave properly in class. All of a sudden they are expected to sit at a desk for the greater part of seven hours and do what someone else tells them to do. They are required to be quiet most of the time, but when called on to speak, to speak correctly and with respect.
They are graded by their ability to deliver correct answers to the prescribed questions in the manner requested.
Bunch of Nazi educators. Where is the ACLU? What about the rights of these poor children? First amendment freedom of speech . . .gone. Second amendment right to bear arms . . .gone. Fourth amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures . . .gone. Fifth amendment right not to incriminate oneself and the right to due process . . . gone. Sixth amendment right to a jury of peers . . . gone. Seventh amendment right to bail upon detention . . .gone. Eighth amendment right to question cruel and unusual punishments . . .gone. Ninth amendment right to exercise those rights not specifically denied . . . gone.
Ridiculous argument? You betcha.
As ridiculous as the behavior of some of our citizens during the past few weeks during town hall meetings held by Congressmen and Congresswomen across our country.
Like the children of summer, a handful of citizens, supposedly adults if that is determined by chronological age, unrestrained by rules of law or civility, have appeared at town hall meetings, a beautiful tradition in America. They have spoken rudely, out of turn, and with no respect for truth. Many were not even residents of that school district, having come from places far away. As a result the rest of the citizens gathered to discuss and learn about the important issues that confront our country were deprived of meaningful opportunities to present their own positions and intelligently pose questions, many of which were sympathetic to the unruly, loud, rude, lying adult delinquents.
Freedom is a hard thing sometimes. I personally respect a good protest, even if it is against something I believe in. That is the way we are supposed to roll in America.
But as teachers constantly remind students, the problem with class disruptions, behavior that may be perfectly acceptable elsewhere, is that it is an impediment to the ability of others to learn. That is the reason for all the unreasonable rules.
It is not illegal to lie or speak out of turn in public. You will not go to jail for acting rudely. No one wants to arrest anyone at a town hall meeting. Okay, that's not true, I am sure the desire to cuff a few people and have them hauled away was a common fantasy among a few congresspeople and a few citizens last week. But we are not supposed to do that in America. Freedom of expression in the public discourse is a cherished right, even if that expression is rude, false, and mean-spirited.
But with that right should come a moral responsibility. Certainly not a responsibility to lie down and acquiesce to the beliefs of others without protest or comment. But there is a moral responsibility to be truthful. To be respectful. To speak in turn. To work and play well with others.
There is a time and place for the freedom of summer. We would be a miserable people without it. I am sure that some of our best ideas and creativity find their origins in those times and places with little or no restraint.
But at some point we must come together and intelligently agree on the best ideas. Everyone must be heard, from the powerless, meek and quiet, to the loud, assertive and rude.
It is time to raise our hands and be recognized before we speak. ( If we are never recognized, then maybe a little protest is appropriate.)
It is time that we are graded on the correctness and truth of the information we give.
Summer can't last forever.
It is time to get back on the bus.
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