Everyone knows that Scott is amazing. You know I love him, Felshaw, Bruce and all our brothers and uncles, and that they are all 100 kinds of perfect. For Fathers Day I will tell you a story about another father whom I admire.
I remembered this man recently when we had a little incident with a lunch lady. One of my kids acted disrespectfully and I was disappointed. I started telling the kids about how hard it is for teachers and school workers. One teacher came to mind and I was crying by the middle of the story, much to my kids' horror and delight.
At my junior high, we had the choice of an entree or a hot ham sandwich. Everybody thought the sandwiches were gross and people would hurl them across the room, or just toss them in the trash. One particular teacher was always on lunch duty and he would humbly ask students for their sandwiches. I remember him putting them in a plastic bag. We knew he had a ridiculous number of kids, maybe five or six, and those sandwiches went home and were eaten for dinner by all those kids. You would think that knowledge would sober the junior high kids and make them a little more respectful of the teacher. Unfortunately, kids that age sometimes have no regard for the feelings of others. The teacher was ridiculed to no end for saving those sandwiches. I can only imagine it from the teacher's point of view: all those immature, nasty, zit-faced know-it-alls mocking him for his efforts to provide for his family.
It can't have been easy, raising a family on a teacher's salary. I imagine this guy scrimping and budgeting, never having quite enough for food. Certainly never having enough for the luxuries some of his students enjoyed. Let's face it, kids who were so cavalier about throwing away good food must have lived in the land of plenty when they got home from school.
I admire a man who was willing, day after day, to be the object of derision, to put aside his pride, to humble himself before such an unworthy crowd, simply to provide for his children. He did whatever it took, and he put food on their table. In a world of entitlement, this teacher only asked for what others would throw away.
I hope that when he walked away from the junior high each day with his bag of sandwiches, he went home to a happy place where he was admired for his efforts. I hope his children grew up to possess the same strength of character as their dad. I bet they did.
Here's to all the dads who are making unnoticed sacrifices because they know what's trash and what's not, what's just a sandwich and what's much more.
I remembered this man recently when we had a little incident with a lunch lady. One of my kids acted disrespectfully and I was disappointed. I started telling the kids about how hard it is for teachers and school workers. One teacher came to mind and I was crying by the middle of the story, much to my kids' horror and delight.
At my junior high, we had the choice of an entree or a hot ham sandwich. Everybody thought the sandwiches were gross and people would hurl them across the room, or just toss them in the trash. One particular teacher was always on lunch duty and he would humbly ask students for their sandwiches. I remember him putting them in a plastic bag. We knew he had a ridiculous number of kids, maybe five or six, and those sandwiches went home and were eaten for dinner by all those kids. You would think that knowledge would sober the junior high kids and make them a little more respectful of the teacher. Unfortunately, kids that age sometimes have no regard for the feelings of others. The teacher was ridiculed to no end for saving those sandwiches. I can only imagine it from the teacher's point of view: all those immature, nasty, zit-faced know-it-alls mocking him for his efforts to provide for his family.
It can't have been easy, raising a family on a teacher's salary. I imagine this guy scrimping and budgeting, never having quite enough for food. Certainly never having enough for the luxuries some of his students enjoyed. Let's face it, kids who were so cavalier about throwing away good food must have lived in the land of plenty when they got home from school.
I admire a man who was willing, day after day, to be the object of derision, to put aside his pride, to humble himself before such an unworthy crowd, simply to provide for his children. He did whatever it took, and he put food on their table. In a world of entitlement, this teacher only asked for what others would throw away.
I hope that when he walked away from the junior high each day with his bag of sandwiches, he went home to a happy place where he was admired for his efforts. I hope his children grew up to possess the same strength of character as their dad. I bet they did.
Here's to all the dads who are making unnoticed sacrifices because they know what's trash and what's not, what's just a sandwich and what's much more.
5 comments:
This cuts right to my heart. I bet he was a teacher for all the right reasons, too: because he loved his subject matter so much that he wanted to share it with others, as snivelly as they may be. (Spellcheck just underlined snivelly, but I'm convinced it's a word.)
Thank you for sharing this beautiful story. I've often remembered one of my junior high teachers, Mr. Blubaugh. Can you already guess the nickname? Either he wore a toupee, or his hair was just that silly, but everyone made fun of him. Yet I still remember the light in his eyes. He loved to teach that much.
I can still picture the bag of sandwiches - you are such a thoughtful person to remember that and empathize with him after all of these years. Your children are lucky that you can teach them such important life lessons...actually you are teaching all of us!
That is a beautiful post! I hope that teacher is surrounding by his loving children who are now adults and are grateful to him for what he did to provide for them.
LOVE this story. Brings tears to my eyes.
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