Limited Future In The Past

Back in the distant past, not too many middle class guys had much of a future.

We were draft bait.

Our right to go to college and seek a career was obliterated by the chaos in Viet Nam.

I was putting grades in the Bardeen's that first year.

I was giving spelling tests.

I didn't have a lot of conviction.

I had no idea where I would be the next marking period.

Pretty sure that I wouldn't be around for the next year.

All around me, guys were getting drafted.

Guys were losing their deferments.

Teaching one day.

Drafted the next.

Viet Nam a couple of months after that.

Some guys dead a few months after thast.

I figured I'd just do what I was told 

and pass the time until draft morning.

Little did I know that the concept

of just passing the time 

is the prevalent art form in the realm of education.

That and filling in the time that we are passing.

We fill it in and we pass it.

We wait for the call

And hope it's celebratory

Rather than catastrophic.

While we wait, we "teach".