people are hurting. We had a student (1st chair trumpet) not go to the concert he was starring in

[greenbriar]

when the teacher ...who was quite upset with this kid...asked him why he didn't go, the kid a 6th grader started tearing up and said


"my mom didn't have any money for gas to get me back to school"



damn

[LSparkle]

1. So sad ... you're right -- it's bad -- and only going to get worse, I'm afraid

[HysteryDiagnosis]

2. Rethug answer, "if they were smarter like us repugs they would have

bought closer to the school....

[King Coal]

42. Or this: "I used to walk 7 miles to my concerts, uphill both ways, in the snow."

[Robbien]

3. double damn

It is awful that stories such as this are becoming the rule, not the exception.

[greenbriar]

4. and all of us wished he had not been so prideful before we all would have picked

he and his mom up

[galledgoblin]

11. we need to stop treating pedestrian/carpooled transportation as a social "bad"

poor kid, he and his mom have nothing to be ashamed of, but this nation should be ashamed for making a system that prevented him from getting transportation.

[zbdent]

17. actually, during the last "war" ... sacrifice was patriotic ...

Rosie the Riveter never drove a car to work ... she took the bus ...

[galledgoblin]

22. hasn't been that way in a while

it's up to us to change that.

if we don't, then I honestly think that the suburbanized, personal car reliant mess we'll be leaving our kids will be too big to clean up!

[truedelphi]

24. No in many places it weren't a bus - it was an electric trolley!!

And those were all taken away in the middle of the night in the mid fifties.

The trolley cars were too discouraging to the Oil Man's Profit.

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

25. I know in Chicago everyone took the streetcar to work.

Including my Dad, who worked at US Steel's South Works plant. Daddy didn't buy a car until 1950 or 1951. In fact he was a "defense worker", he was a supervisor in the open hearth, and he didn't have to worry about being drafted. He enlisted in 1942 anyway, because he said "I got tired of all the dirty looks I got from the old ladies on the streetcar."

[zbdent]

37. Dirty looks from the old ladies on the streetcar made him enlist?

Today's Repukes ... "Hey, I'm not going to enlist. I do shit ..."

[truedelphi]

44. My mom was a riveter on Chi town's south side.

I imagine she took a trolley into work herself.

My dad should have been in the first contingent of GI's to land in Normandy. Due to his stupidity, or inattention, during a parade, he let the guy in front of him drop a heavy shell on his foot. He ended up being in a cast on June 6th 1944. Saw a great deal of action in the fall of 1944, to SPring 1945, but he always thought that that one snafu on his part saved his life.

[galledgoblin]

66. did you know...

it was the car companies that bought up all the city trolley lines and ripped them out?

they were sued and found guilty of monopolizing and corrupt practices... and fined $5000, the execs $1.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_conspiracy

we can trace so many of our nations current pain back to this one damned selfish move.

[DB1]

5. Triple damn, but on the upside maybe the arts need curriculum status w/ transportation.

[RC]

8. If it were sports instead of music, I bet he would have had a ride.

Sports is oh so much more important that the Arts, Music or even education. /sarcasm

[DB1]

14. Our focus needs to be more balanced, more art, less war, I mean sports.....

Keep the physical activity up with an on campus program, more green friendly.

[Aragorn]

15. please

Sports and Band get transportation to events AFTER they get to scholl. Too bad he was probably embarrassed to ask for a ride from another kid/family, and too bad no one (apparently) noticed his family's strain until this.

Taxes for schools and healthcare = good. Taxes for war = bad. Note that Congress stands up to * while he is out of the country.

But somebody must be benefitting from high gas prices somewhere, I guess?

[DB1]

18. Not in our district, sporting events only.

[greenbriar]

32. we have a late bus that takes kids home at 5

but no evening transportation

not for sports or anything. It's middle school.


I would have taking this kid and his mom had I known

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. Actually they are lucky they even have an arts program

Many arts programs are being cut in districts all over the US.

[bobbolink]

6. Yet, so many DUers cheer the rising prices.

Things like this don't seem to matter to them.

:cry:

:hug: for the trumpet player.....

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. Never confuse 20 or so very loud assholes

with many

That is one benefit of GD: P

I've learned to count...

And yes assholes tend to be very LOUD and chiefly OBNOXIOUS

[DB1]

16. Absolutely, positively, true. I know many of us hate being pigeonholed.

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. I know

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3285562

[RazBerryBeret]

12. geez...

that breaks my heart.

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. It will get far worst

many of us have been tracking this for a while (and some of us even said we are going to have a depression)

On the plus side, and this is a plus... it is conditions like this that make change really possible And I wish it wasn't, because people are going to die

[NuttyFluffers]

35. yes, it will get worse, sadly.

we are merely traveling beyond the eye of the storm currently. a few feel good victories, but there is more to come. the majority is not prepared; they should start to get to know their neighbors soon...

[BlooInBloo]

19. :((( Poor kid. Busted his ass for it too.

EDIT: Teacher shouldn't have put him on the spot like that either. Very insensitive.

[Initech]

20. Damn that sucks.

One day I hope the tide will turn and those corporate cocksuckers will get what is coming to them.

[bdamomma]

48. I hope they get their just dues soon.

cause I believe that they will.

[DB1]

21. K and R, this is the stuff we need to start focusing on vs McCain. Not GDP.

[dmr]

23. My son's co-worker called in this week

She had no gas and won't until her Friday's paycheck is deposited. Next week's paycheck will be dismal because of this. It's a terrible cycle to find yourself.

He told me last week she may have to quit because she had only 40 dollars left out of her part-time check after she filled her tank. She lives about 20 miles away and is weighing the balance of working for only 40 dollars or having nothing at all. The area is fairly rural and jobs are very hard to come by up here.

It's heartbreaking. I pack extra in his lunch to share with her because she no longer brings her lunch. I know what it's like, because I've been there. I wish I could wave a magic wand.

[bobbolink]

27. And there are still "liberals" advocating more gas tax to "reduce driving".

What does it take to get muddleclass liberals to UNDERSTAND???

:mad:

[Delphinus]

67. Thank you for doing that.

You are a light in this darkening world. :hug:

[Stinky The Clown]

26. That's a real heartbreaker

If the kid feels bad (and rightly so), imagine how his mom must feel.

Mt feeling toward the fuckers who brought this shitstorm down on us glows white hot.

[greenbriar]

28. he will probably quit band to prevent this from happening again

he was pretty devastated

[bobbolink]

29. .

:cry:

[ladjf]

39. There was no reason to devastate the child over one round

trip from home. Call up a fellow student and get a ride. For that matter, the school would have provided some arrangements had they been informed of the situation.

[hokies4ever]

58. Not likely

kids that age gifted with musical talents wouldn't give it up for the world. I played the alto sax for many years from 6th grade through 12th grade, and was one of the best at my school and on the county level. Even this sad story wouldn't have caused me to even think about quitting.

[BeHereNow]

30. I hear you- I have a kid who comes in at nutrition every day for a granola bar.

I keep them in my desk, because HOW the HELL are kids supposed to concentrate
on an empty stomach?
No child left behind MY ASS@!
FUCK the people responsible for these atrocities.
The children are the victims.
The CHILDREN.
BHN

[greenbriar]

31. yea, I keep crackers in my closet

it is easier to supply them than it is to hear them talk about being hungry

I also go through an endless supply of pencils

[Creideiki]

56. Part of why I had to quit teaching

was I was losing money hand over fist. No support from the administration on discipline issues (3rd teacher in classroom, previous had no rules at all), and expected to supply all supplies from my own empty pocket.

So now I'm looking at how I'm going to get back to IT and make enough to eat again.

[DU GrovelBot]

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[ladjf]

34. There is more to this story than the price of gasoline.

[JANdad]

36. O do tell...

I'll be waiting...

[ladjf]

38. I was a band director for 35 years.

What I don't know is exactly why the child didn't appear for the concert.

But, for example, if he lived 10 miles from the school, that would have required about $3.60 worth of gasoline. Last year it would have been $3.00.

If they were unable to pay the $3.60, there were dozens of other band students that would have been willing to give him a lift. In fact, given the financial hardship, the band director would have made arrangements for him.

I doubt that the student told the band director in advance that he was not going to be at the concert because of the price of gas. Now, if he did, and the director simply said "well, that's tough" then the director would have been negligent.

In an earlier post, someone suggested that if the child had been an athlete, arrangements would have been made for transportation. Band parents support their children in music just as parents of athletes.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

40. The child could have been ashamed to admit it

My choir had a fine singer drop out of sight without notice recently. When tracked down, he admitted that he couldn't afford to run his car anymore and wasn't on a convenient bus line. We made arrangements for people to give him rides, but it's significant that he didn't want to come out and say that he couldn't afford to drive.

[ladjf]

43. He admitted the reason apparently after the concert. If he had

discussed it prior to the concert arrangements would have been made.

We would have to know all the reasons behind his absence. But, my experience as an educator tells me
there were reasons other than the price of gas for the absence. At best, his parents weren't very resourceful.

[Marrah_G]

45. Sometimes things happen that drain the bank acount at the last minute

I have had to overdraw my bank account and incur bank fees just to make it through the end of the week more then once.

When you live literally week to week and there is no saving, something as simple as a flat tire can devastate you. A large car repair can be a nightmare.

Don't be to quick to judge the parents because we don't know the whole story. The mother may well be a single other working a low paying job trying like hell just to keep the electric on, gas in the car and food on the table.

[ladjf]

49. There could be some justifiable reason. But, I don't believe that

it was the price of gasoline. If the child failed to show for the concert without contacting the band director in advance and merely came to school Monday with the gasoline excuse, it would have sounded a lot like the old "dog ate my homework" excuse. We will never know and it's not too important in the overall scheme of things.

[greenbriar]

51. you know nothing about my students. This kid only has a mom

these kids are the poorest of the poor living in temporary military housing made for World War II and were never intended to last more than 10 years... 60 years ago...


many of these kids literally have NOTHING and don't even know from one day to the next if they will have electricty or water


I had one student go home from school yesterday and the family's few possessions were out on the lawn, the locks were changed and many eviction notices were on the door. The mom took the girl and her brother and they left the state to outrun the bills.

I had one student last year whose family moved in the middle of the night so the landlord couldn't come after them.

these stories go on EVERY DAY at my school.




so in your all knowing education...remember you don't know everything

[ladjf]

52. No, I don't specifically know anything about your students nor

did I claim to.

But, I do know a lot about poverty and band directors. I taught in rural Mississippi where poverty was the rule. I know that any band director would have made travel arrangements for this student under the circumstances.

Are you a band director? And if so, is it a common thing among your students that they are unable to participate in any band performances outside of the school day unless transportation is provided?

If the child had informed me on Monday as to why he wasn't present at the concert, I would have gotten in touch with the mother and told her that in the future, the school would provide transportation for him.

[greenbriar]

53. no I am not the band director...just the teacher that tried to console him after the fiasco

if he had told ANYONE about his problem EVERY SINGLE TEACHER In the building would have gone to pick him up



the ISSUE was that he was too ashamed to admit anything and that this economy sucks for ALL of us

[ladjf]

54. I didn't realize that you actually knew the child involved and that

in incident occurred at your school.

Under the poverty conditions that exist at your school, the band director might have anticipated that some of the students might not have transportation to the concert. I'm not suggesting that he was derelict for not doing so, only that had he told students to let him know if they couldn't attend, that he would help them with that.

[JerseygirlCT]

50. Or the child may not even have known

He could have gotten home, been told there's no gas, so you can't go. And that's that. It's hard to know.

It also occurs to me that if schools were smaller and closer to the people they serve, walking or riding a bike would be more of an option... To get my kid to the HS would be a 5+ mile walk - and not a safe one, either. But they pack 2400 kids in there.

[johnaries]

62. I'd like to make an educated guess as a former band member

whose parents didn't support his musical interests.

I'm guessing that it was a last minute thing and an excuse on the part of the parent. "Mom, Dad, I'm going to be late for the concert! Can you take me?" "No, son, we don't have any money for gas." By then it was probably too late to make other arrangements.

I'm not saying this is what actually happened, but I can definitely see it as a possibility. My parents thought band was a waste of time. Later, when I went to college as a Music Major, my father would still ask me "when are you going to start taking courses that will help you get a job?"

[greenbriar]

63. you could be right

I figured the mom was stoned or just really out of money and gas


you ought to see where these students live...looks like the Ghetto of the Holocaust

[johnaries]

65. Sad, and comes back to your original point. People ARE hurting.

It sounds like it starting a long time before the current gas prices, though. Then again, the mom may just be a loser. Either way, I have a lot of sympathy for the kid. It takes both talent and determination to make first chair - even in a High School band.

[guitar man]

41. well then

I guess mommy shouldn't have blown all of the money on beer, cigarettes and lotto tickets....:sarcasm:

[dembotoz]

46. no child left behind

becomes even more of a joke

[Javaman]

47. How far do they live from the school? nt

[John Kerry VonErich]

55. Couldn't he or parents have taken the bus or arrange a ride with someone else?

nt

[greenbriar]

59. there is no bus service in that area after 6

and like I said, if he had known or told any of his teachers, we would have made arrangements to get him and mom


more likely mom said "don't talk about our issues"

so the kid said nothing until pressed in class

[John Kerry VonErich]

60. Something else is up then.

To a responsible parrent there is no logic with a no call no show.

[greenbriar]

61. there is where you are wrong ...responsible parent

is a rarity in our school building.

Many of our students are the responsible ones.



many parents are gang bangers, druggies, running from the law or landlords or bills, kids having kids and ready to blame the school for every little problem in their life.

Our kids, are doing the best they can. It is a wonder they are even consistent in attendance and grades when most of the students are babysitters, work jobs to help with bills and groceries ect...




Just last week I had an 8th grade girl tell me her parents would not let her enroll in High School because she was needed to stay home to babysit the 2 year old because they couldn't afford day care.



YES most of my students are illegals ... they are still worth teaching and it is not their fault the parents are how they are.

[hokies4ever]

57. petition your school board for some after school bussing

I'm in my late 20s and grew up mainly in northern VA suburbs south of DC, and I often used after school bussing to go to extracurricular activities. Also played the hell out of an alto sax (1st All-County in 7th grade, 2nd chair a couple other years). The onus must fall on the school board to ensure that gifted students have the opportunity to shine with their talents.

[northernlights]

64. the kid probably didn't know in advance...

It may not have been pride. He may not have found out until too late. And even then, until you know the details of his home life, you just don't know.

It may or may not be related to pride. Fear of abuse keeps the silence.