8 responses to “First thing we do…”

1. 

   mary said on September 13, 2005 at 12:55 pm

   I got a reputation for being a crank when I opposed the acquistion of a van by our recreation center. They wanted it specifically for transporting kids from the school to the rec center for after school activities. We’re talking a distance of under a half mile, all downhill. They never got the van, by the way. The kids walk. If necessary they carry umbrellas when it rains. I swear, I was the only person who thought it was a stupid idea to drive vanloads of kids to afterschool activities like excercise classes. Luckily, liability and licensing issues ate the van proposal.

   Neither of my kids go schools close enough to walk to school in a reasonable amount of time, now. Younger son could bike, but the school he’s going has a rule against bikes. The way the rule is worded, it seems to be okay to ride a bike, just don’t bring it anywhere near the school or it will be confiscated for the remainder of the school year. I’m soooooo tempted to test this one.

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2. 

   basset said on September 13, 2005 at 9:32 pm

   well, once we go back to neighborhood schools we won’t NEED buses. we’ll have a school on every block, just like we used to, and we’ll get rid of those bureaucrats in the central office, and we won’t be teachin’ none of that evolution, and if a kid acts up the teacher can just get a switch and…

   OK, I feel better now. nine-plus years as a city school district PR guy can do that to you.

   every time you pick up the phone and the caller starts with either “I’m retired” or “I’m a taxpayer,” you know it’s gonna be awhile.

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3. 

   mary said on September 14, 2005 at 3:09 am

   basset

   The two old gits across the street from me constantly complain about their taxes going to schools and being used inefficiently. The fact that one of them is a retired schoolteacher and they both live on his pension doesn’t seem to faze them. They’re taxpayers goddamit. Like I’m not.

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4. 

   brian stouder said on September 14, 2005 at 10:02 am

   “They’re taxpayers goddamit. Like I’m not.”

   see, NOW you sound like a crank, Mary! 🙂

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5. 

   mary said on September 14, 2005 at 12:45 pm

   I’ve never denied my closet crank persona. Don’t get me started…

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6. 

   basset said on September 14, 2005 at 9:28 pm

   here in Nashville a referendum to add half a cent on the sales tax (9 3/4 percent already) failed yesterday by about two and a half to one… and one of the quotes in the paper this morning was pretty much what you’d expect, along the lines of “they can cut more, they’re wasteful, don’t believe them when they say they need money.”

   I mean, how can you argue with that? the guy on the radio says so (one of the local morning obnoxiouses has billboards all over town with his face and “Tax Revolt!” on them), how can it be wrong?

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7. 

   alex said on September 14, 2005 at 9:47 pm

   Here in Hoosierland, I get an earful of anti-taxation rhetoric from cranks all the time. My property taxes are $400 a year. This is a relative anthill next to the Mount Olympus that was my property taxes in Chicago. It’s the people from bumfuck who hardly pay anything who scream the loudest, and they’re not even questioning that Black Hole called Iraq sucking up their earnings for the rest of their working lives, which from here on out will probably be ’til death.

   They also love to bitch about traffic, as if they’ve ever been in it. All I can say is I’m glad for the relative solitude one finds here otherwise. One needs it after a day of listening to cranks.

   On the first day after Katrina, I listened to one woman in the office going on and on about how stupid you’d have to be to live in New Orleans and how those people have no one but themselves to blame. I bet it came verbatim from talk radio. She also sends cards to soldiers in Iraq and sends out mass e-mails requesting that the whole office sign, no doubt so she can feel like she’s making us all take a loyalty oath. Sweet Land of Liberty.

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8. 

   basset said on September 15, 2005 at 1:40 pm

   I work at home these days but am still on the office email ring for one of my former employers… got mail yesterday showing a proposed US stamp recognizing the Muslim “Eid” observance accompanied by a graph or so of overheated “the Muslims bombed this, the Muslims blew up that, why is our government supporting them by issuing this stamp” rhetoric.

   I wanted to respond “the Christians nuked Japan twice, why does our government support them by issuing a Christmas stamp”…

   naaah, better not.

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