She Said, G Said is making its triumphant return to the blogsphere!! After a brief hiatus (and, unfortunately, the end of the New York Rangers' Stanley Cup run), we've decided to ressurect our humble little blog and make it better than ever before with a new look and some streamlined features. She and I definitely appreciate our readers' (i.e. Kari) patience during our rennovation!
So let's do what we do best: ask some questions and get some answers (or perhaps rant, which is typically easiest)...
She Said: What is it like to date a teacher?
G Said: At first glance, a number of you might see that question and say "Don't answer! It's a trap!" But there's no need to worry. This blog would be nothing if it wasn't honest and transparent. And besides, I'm happy to answer. Dating a teacher, at least my teacher, is a lot like this:
Each night, I go to bed thinking about how lucky I am that I live in a world where David Lee Roth can take all of my thoughts and feelings and put them to words.
To all of you shaking your heads and fists, I understand. And I'm sorry. This blog's squeaky-clean PG-rating is now down the toilet. But really, what is it like to date a teacher? People close to me know I hate speaking in generalities, and I realize that my response (or pieces of it) may not be applicable across all of teacher-dom. While reading, it's important to remember that I'd love my teacher even if she were something completely different--like a toll collector or an accounts payable clerk (note: no toll collectors nor accounts payable clerks were consulted in the writing of this post). I wasn't necessarily seeking a teacher to date, either. It just kinda, you know, happened. And I'm happy it did! There must be serial teacher-daters out there; and if they're friends of the blog, I'd appreciate their input. However, until then I operate on pure speculation.
One of the things that makes dating a teacher so neat is that they have teacher friends, and hence anyone in that circle gets, like, eight times the exposure (still well within FDA limits). When they get together they're almost always talking about "teacher stuff," so I've had the benefit of interacting with a teacher in captivity as well as a few of their kind in the natural world. The following are a few observations I have reagarding dating a teacher...
Your teacher is more organized than you are. If one day we as a nation suddenly decided to totally scrap education and let our kids run wild and free, places such as Michael's and Staples would immediately cease doing business. Something like 90% of their revenue must be generated from educators...I mean, who else is buying color-coordinated crayon bins and personalized lunch-box holders? And Post-It Notes? Don't even get me started on Post-It Notes. You may think you use a lot (hell, I think I use a lot), but in actuality we're blips on the 3M demographic radar. How do I know that teachers are more organized than the rest of us? Because they have conversations about organization. Yeah, I know. The first time I heard one, I was scared, too. Rubbermaid was taken to a whole other level. In the classroom, everything has a home...everything has a place. You want erasers sorted by size? Got 'em.
Teaching is a thankless job, and every now and then, that's going to show up. Teachers are under a ton of intense pressure from just about every angle--their district, their state, their kids (students), the parents of their kids, and themselves. If you're currently (or considering) dating a teacher, then you need to understand that school days don't end when the kids leave. All too often, they're on working late nights (10, 11pm) and weekends coming up with ideas to engage your kids. The planning that goes into these lessons...it's unbelievable...especially at the younger grade levels. Familiar with the attention spans of little kids? If you lose them 5 minutes, the day is shot. There's no recovery from that one. But wait, there's more. What about report cards? Some of these teachers take DAYS off work just to get everything together with assessments and comments by the deadline (on top of everything else that they're doing). Speaking of assessments, the worst thing a parent can do when hearing that their kid might need special instruction is to take their frustrations out on the teacher. These people are certified, spend more time each day with the child than they do, and are trained to spot problems in just such areas. Teachers are on your side, and they're professionals. And the bureaucracy? I'm going to stay away from politics (for now, anyway) but I'm becoming more and more frustrated that hierarchy in education is not determined by merit (like every other industry or business in this country). What do you do if you're dating a teacher? You might want to find a way to make all this excessive external pressure disappear, but I've got news for you: it's not. There's not a whole lot you can do in that department, bro. There are always going to be bratty kids, brattier parents, budget cuts, and state requirements, and there are going to be days when the teacher that you're dating is overcome. Your teacher might want to retreat into a hole, take up a physical sport, cry, or, in most extreme cases, destroy something (note: this blog does not condone destroying anything). Teachers need a ton of love, and the best thing that you can possibly do is give it to them. Just roll with it...through everything...and let them know that they're doing a good job. It's terrible that there aren't a lot of people on their side, so that's where you need to be.
Teachers know how to have a good time. Back in my tasting room days I was pouring for a group of middle school teachers and their spouses who had come up to the winery to celebrate the end of the year. I got through my deal and the (I don't know...9?) of us gradually made it to the end of the bar where we talked about life and wine and told jokes for maybe an hour. Not exactly what my manager wanted to see out of me on a busy weekend-day in June, but I can write about it now since time eases all things, I suppose. Anyway, I think we had touched on wine sales and the Sideways effect and one of these teachers said, "We're teachers--we drive wine sales!" I don't know why that always stuck with me, but it did. They all enjoyed each other's company, were family-oriented, and were able to laugh and joke about themselves. All sound like good qualities to me! I comp'd their tasting and may or may not have thrown in an extra freebie because I thought that they were genuinely good people who deserved a break. Now I'm not saying that you need wine to have a good time, but it would be a lot cooler if you did! The same holds true for She's friends now--a tight-knit circle with diverse (but supported!) interests who know how to release some tension without overdoing it while maintaining a family dynamic. I like teachers.
Your teacher is going to talk about kids. When you're dating a teacher, eventually the conversation will shift to the subject of her (or his, for that matter) students. What needs to be thoroughly understood, however, is that the discussion is by no means pressure on you to advance the relationship and actually have your own. It's cool, bro--no reason to run. Speaking from personal experience, when She talks about her kids it's endearing. She really cares about them--which is something that all you teacher-daters should notice. If your teacher isn't talking about their kids outside of school, then he or she is probably in the wrong profession. So embrace the kid-talk...any day with kids is like a soap-opera, anyway--you could enjoy it! You might not know them by sight, but after hearing months-worth of stories, you'll be able to piece together personalities until you reach a point when conversation will be like this:
Teacher: Wow, I had a really long day that was complete chaos.
Significant Other: Uh-oh. What did _________ do now?
And if you're willing to talk about kids for an entire academic year, then I highly recommend taking a day off work and volunteering in your teacher's classroom. Not only do you get to be a kid for a day, but you get to see the thousands of hours of hard work that are put in so that (hopefully) the kids turn out better than you did.
Wine of the week: 2008 FAILLA Wines Occidental Ridge Pinot Noir.
What I learned today: Pauly D eats 5 apples a day. Thank you, VH1 and Jersey Shore Pop-Up Video.
What did you learn today?
One of the things that makes dating a teacher so neat is that they have teacher friends, and hence anyone in that circle gets, like, eight times the exposure (still well within FDA limits). When they get together they're almost always talking about "teacher stuff," so I've had the benefit of interacting with a teacher in captivity as well as a few of their kind in the natural world. The following are a few observations I have reagarding dating a teacher...
Your teacher is more organized than you are. If one day we as a nation suddenly decided to totally scrap education and let our kids run wild and free, places such as Michael's and Staples would immediately cease doing business. Something like 90% of their revenue must be generated from educators...I mean, who else is buying color-coordinated crayon bins and personalized lunch-box holders? And Post-It Notes? Don't even get me started on Post-It Notes. You may think you use a lot (hell, I think I use a lot), but in actuality we're blips on the 3M demographic radar. How do I know that teachers are more organized than the rest of us? Because they have conversations about organization. Yeah, I know. The first time I heard one, I was scared, too. Rubbermaid was taken to a whole other level. In the classroom, everything has a home...everything has a place. You want erasers sorted by size? Got 'em.
Teaching is a thankless job, and every now and then, that's going to show up. Teachers are under a ton of intense pressure from just about every angle--their district, their state, their kids (students), the parents of their kids, and themselves. If you're currently (or considering) dating a teacher, then you need to understand that school days don't end when the kids leave. All too often, they're on working late nights (10, 11pm) and weekends coming up with ideas to engage your kids. The planning that goes into these lessons...it's unbelievable...especially at the younger grade levels. Familiar with the attention spans of little kids? If you lose them 5 minutes, the day is shot. There's no recovery from that one. But wait, there's more. What about report cards? Some of these teachers take DAYS off work just to get everything together with assessments and comments by the deadline (on top of everything else that they're doing). Speaking of assessments, the worst thing a parent can do when hearing that their kid might need special instruction is to take their frustrations out on the teacher. These people are certified, spend more time each day with the child than they do, and are trained to spot problems in just such areas. Teachers are on your side, and they're professionals. And the bureaucracy? I'm going to stay away from politics (for now, anyway) but I'm becoming more and more frustrated that hierarchy in education is not determined by merit (like every other industry or business in this country). What do you do if you're dating a teacher? You might want to find a way to make all this excessive external pressure disappear, but I've got news for you: it's not. There's not a whole lot you can do in that department, bro. There are always going to be bratty kids, brattier parents, budget cuts, and state requirements, and there are going to be days when the teacher that you're dating is overcome. Your teacher might want to retreat into a hole, take up a physical sport, cry, or, in most extreme cases, destroy something (note: this blog does not condone destroying anything). Teachers need a ton of love, and the best thing that you can possibly do is give it to them. Just roll with it...through everything...and let them know that they're doing a good job. It's terrible that there aren't a lot of people on their side, so that's where you need to be.
Teachers know how to have a good time. Back in my tasting room days I was pouring for a group of middle school teachers and their spouses who had come up to the winery to celebrate the end of the year. I got through my deal and the (I don't know...9?) of us gradually made it to the end of the bar where we talked about life and wine and told jokes for maybe an hour. Not exactly what my manager wanted to see out of me on a busy weekend-day in June, but I can write about it now since time eases all things, I suppose. Anyway, I think we had touched on wine sales and the Sideways effect and one of these teachers said, "We're teachers--we drive wine sales!" I don't know why that always stuck with me, but it did. They all enjoyed each other's company, were family-oriented, and were able to laugh and joke about themselves. All sound like good qualities to me! I comp'd their tasting and may or may not have thrown in an extra freebie because I thought that they were genuinely good people who deserved a break. Now I'm not saying that you need wine to have a good time, but it would be a lot cooler if you did! The same holds true for She's friends now--a tight-knit circle with diverse (but supported!) interests who know how to release some tension without overdoing it while maintaining a family dynamic. I like teachers.
Your teacher is going to talk about kids. When you're dating a teacher, eventually the conversation will shift to the subject of her (or his, for that matter) students. What needs to be thoroughly understood, however, is that the discussion is by no means pressure on you to advance the relationship and actually have your own. It's cool, bro--no reason to run. Speaking from personal experience, when She talks about her kids it's endearing. She really cares about them--which is something that all you teacher-daters should notice. If your teacher isn't talking about their kids outside of school, then he or she is probably in the wrong profession. So embrace the kid-talk...any day with kids is like a soap-opera, anyway--you could enjoy it! You might not know them by sight, but after hearing months-worth of stories, you'll be able to piece together personalities until you reach a point when conversation will be like this:
Teacher: Wow, I had a really long day that was complete chaos.
Significant Other: Uh-oh. What did _________ do now?
And if you're willing to talk about kids for an entire academic year, then I highly recommend taking a day off work and volunteering in your teacher's classroom. Not only do you get to be a kid for a day, but you get to see the thousands of hours of hard work that are put in so that (hopefully) the kids turn out better than you did.
Wine of the week: 2008 FAILLA Wines Occidental Ridge Pinot Noir.
What I learned today: Pauly D eats 5 apples a day. Thank you, VH1 and Jersey Shore Pop-Up Video.
What did you learn today?
