Yankee in a Red State

The ramblings of an expatriate New Yorker in the South ~ formerly known as The Kudzu Kronikles ~

Dumb Luck

Angst and gnashing of teeth be gone.  I was just lucky enough to land myself a second job during this time of record unemployment.  Frank, however, has not been so lucky.  54 year old men are not high on anyone's list of potential employees and he's taking it badly.  I made the mistake of showing him my first paycheck from my contracting job last night and he curled into a fetal position and wallowed in self pity -- a wallow from which he has yet to emerge because as of this morning things do not look any brighter. I have to wear sackcloth and ashes now in order to be fittingly commiserate and I have to reserve my self-congratulations for forums such as this.
At any rate, I interviewed (finally) for a teaching position at the local community college.  This was the job that I did not get as of May but they have decided to take me on as an adjunct until the search opens up again in August for a permanent, full-time English instructor.  My meeting with the head of the English Department (which is actually the Dept. of Humanities, an umbrella under which college English shelters itself) went amazingly well.  He is a high-energy guy with not a little bit of Attention Deficit Disorder.  He kept looking at his watch while we were chatting and while this would have set me on edge with anyone else, it actually let me relax because I knew he wasn't paying enough attention to see the cracks in my facade which are a composite of "fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency, an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope" (apologies to Monty Python).  OK, fear is one of my weaknesses.  Social anxiety is another but I think that falls under the category of fear.
What ensued, therefore, was a quick chat.  "What do you want to teach?"  I gave him my wish list:  Honors English, Lit., Creative Writing, Composition I and II, in that order.  "OK, are there any days you CAN'T teach?"  he says as he shuffles through my dossier (he laughed when I called it that, with perfect French pronunciation which was a good thing because I was being silly).  I tell him about my fat contracting job with Johnson&Johnson and how they will allow me to teach if it doesn't take tooooo much time out of the office and so we opt for a Tuesday-Thursday schedule.  I take it this means I have the job.  He laughs and puts my dossier down after glancing at my proposed course modules, resume, list of subjects studied, teaching evaluations, etc, and says "you're the real deal, you came highly recommended" (this from my former teacher there) here's how we structure our courses,"  which he then proceeded to describe.  Handing me the syllabi for Freshman English and English II (Intro to Lit).   The students have to write a minimum of 3,000 words per semester.  This is what the college wants ... blah blah blah ... yes, I know that colleges have a responsibility to turn out competent graduates ... then he said the magic words: "Teach it the way you want.  Lit breaks down to literature, drama, poetry.  Teach it in any order using any author.  Use film, use recordings, use PowerPoint because students relate to it.  Don't worry about technology.  They have to write x number of papers, one should be based on research, but don't push research. Gotta love a community college where two thirds of the students have no plan to go beyond the Associate's degree.
He extended his hand and said "welcome aboard," then he gave me a packet of official stuff to fill out and return (the job application to start with - ha!).
OK, maybe not dumb luck here.  I did work very hard and I suffered greatly along with my other poor abused adjunct colleagues (yes, you).  I had no idea that outside of a Research I university there was the Emerald City of cake teaching jobs.  Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.

posted by: willothwisp at 13:47 | link | comments |
teaching, literature, the academe

Check This Out:

Some bon mots (insert sarcasm here) from my politics chat room:

POLINC:
Libs have no idea why theyre so ga-ga about the dude....Except thats hes black"

Dwightvol
Many white Liberals are assuaging their guilt over things like slavery by voting for Obama.... hoping he will say ''I forgive you for being born white in America.''

Doda
I saw a show last night that told how Obama got to be the nominee and it was designed by young whites....the guy who helped start Facebook designed Obama's web site and the donations from it put him over the top

POLINC
Obama was born a Muslim. His father was Muslim.

KASLIN
Wrong, Obama's Father was a muslim, as was his stepfather

Afterburner
Dwightvol: how often would you want to put the pork to Hillary?


Doda
Afterburner: Only if you are a jerk off

[ quoted: Afterburner - Doda: asking how often someone porks someone else is no measure of maturity, it was a good question ]

-----------------------------

And this was a span of only about 20 minutes.  Either I have to find a different place to debate politics or many conservatives are really this stupid.

This is the face of the American voter, folks.  If that doesn't scare you I don't know what does.  They get their information from Fox News and Rush Limbaugh and their opinions are formed by Anne Coulter and Chris Matthews and Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

I don't even bother interjecting, although at one point I did post "do you knuckleheads actually THINK before you type or is this some kind of Tourette's syndrome?"

It can get pretty ugly in there.

Personal attacks are not uncommon.  I would like to be reassured that none of these chat denizens acts this way in real life and that the Computer Screen of Anonymity gives them the cojones to be this open with their wacky beliefs but I'm really afraid that one of these days when I feel I am free to give an opinion in mixed company one of them will pop up and call me a fat ugly old hag (that's usually the best they can come up with) to my face just because I supported Hillary for the nomination.

Speaking of which, I think Hillary is brilliant.  Congrats to Obama for running a tight race.  Either way, I will cast my vote with the Democrats come November (although I have abdicated my Dem party membership and signed on with the Independents).

Now, back to chat.

posted by: willothwisp at 12:42 | link | comments (3) |

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