I was forced had the honor of attending a scholar’s banquet last night. FOUR hours of banquet/ceremony Despite the heat and humidity, I decided to have a good time. Several of our students were being honored, so at least there were a few familiar faces. The meal served was excellent and for once in my professional life, I heard no complaints at all.

Then the turn came. After brief opening remarks, a teacher/preacher did a prayer. In a public school. Ugh. Something about OH LORD! Builder of bridges, maker of butterflies, sender of rainbows….. Seriously, this continued for more than 5 minutes. It ended with the preacher sweating profusely and yelling, “We BEG you, OH LORD, FORCE YOURSELF INTO THESE YOUNG MIIIIIIIIIIINDS, AND MAKE THEM DOOOOOOOO YOUR DIVIIIIIIIINE WORK, Make them into your butterflies, we pray….blah blah, pray…blah blah…..WE beg you……blah blah.“. At this point I was *thisclose* to standing up and saying, “No the hell WE do not,” while bringing up a little something called The Constitution of the United States. Ugh.

Our first speaker was a County Delegate….with an agenda. After instructing us EXACTLY how to vote in the upcoming elections, this Al Sharpton-wannabe proceeded to go on (preacher-style, also) about how we can save money and put it toward Medicaid, which is facing cuts. As I looked around the auditorium filled with (so NOT-) disabled people who “can’t work” but could run a marathon to get to the PO to get that FREE check, I had just about had my fill of this ridiculousness. Once these poor cripples jumped to their feet to applaud said ridiculousness, I thought I would vomit. His next point was to tell each school employee (many by name) that if, “You aren’t teaching MY kids the RIGHT things, GET OUT OF THE CLASSROOM (CENTRAL OFFICE, BUS, etc.). GET OFF THE STAGE, GET OFF THE STAGE, GET OFF THE STAGE was all I think. I honestly do not know how I was able to hold it in. I think I deserve some kind of award for not causing a scene right then and there.

:ranting: Here endeth the rant.

The rest of the event went slowly, but smoothly. Overall it was an enjoyable event and I’m glad to see the kids get recognized for their academic achievement.