Sometimes the assumption of privilege in the school out here gets on my nerves. They routinely tell kids to do such things as “bring their homework in on a thumb drive” and “stay for such-in-such afterschool, call your mom to pick you up.” If we were poor and/or I was working as many hours as most single mothers, I don’t think we could even live here. I like living here, but that kinda stuff just gets on my nerves. (aside: Ears forgot his highliters last week, and when scolded he shot back “What if my mom were too poor to buy me highliters?” for which he got in trouble because they took it as if he were lying by saying I was poor, so unthinkable is it that a kid could have a sociopolitical thought and/or that there is anything to have such a thought about.) The latest thing was that all the kids were supposed to bring in their digital cameras yesterday. Not on cell phones, o no that would be too easy, they were to bring “regular digital cameras” for a field trip to the zoo. The trip was an art trip, and the kids are going to be drawing and painting animals hereafter, so everyone should bring their cameras . . (why??) . . . because apparently pictures of animals are hard to come by otherwise?? Stupid. And again, how lame is it to assume all kids just have such things to toss around in their backpacks? Even out here in Lodi, surely someone must have lost their job by now. So anyway, I’m running around trying to even find the damn thing (everyone uses their phone now, duh) and then it’s out of charge grrrrr, and I’m cursing out the school with such thoughts as “I hope the entire middle school population takes pictures of each other’s asscracks whatever and drives that damn art teacher nuts.”

Action is low at the zoo for the animals now that it’s cold. That’s why, I’m guessing, that the monkeys got so excited to see all the kids running around. So excited, in fact, that one of them jerked off right in front of the display glass, screeching and jumping up and down and thrusting his monkey penis at them. While, indeed, the kids took pictures. The thing I like best about that story is that while the kids were amused, the male teachers were DELIGHTED. They could not stop laughing. Ed was laughing so hard telling me this story, I’m still laughing just remembering how hard he was laughing. The social studies teacher man exclaimed in glee, “There’s even a happy ending!” as the monkey splattered his load onto the glass, buckshot style, all the teacher dudes howlin' and applauding.

(for not posting an accompanying pic with this story: you're welcome)