Friday, June 20, 2008

Is this good for my inner wino?

So, I have found a summer job! I am working part time for a wine distributor. That's right, if you buy wine in Ohio I probably sold it to the people who sold it to you...or one of my associates. Anyway, this doesn't mean I can buy cases and cases from them to feed the inner wino, but I am learning about all these different brands and how the process works.

But I believe the hardest thing of all was yesterday when I went up to the kitchen to have my break. Since there was a tasting earlier in the day, there were two carafes of wine (one white, one red with lots of tannins) sitting on the table and I knew that I couldn't touch them. Sigh, all that wasted yummy goodness!

Sunday, June 8, 2008

I'm the diet coke of Christianity/Officially on my loathing list

Yes, apparently I am not Christian enough. Ah, it is a sad sad feeling. When a woman has gone through life with emotional turmoil and has had a normal, rocky relationship with her Deity that makes people doubt her faith. Oh, then there is my second topic for this blog, people that suck.

So, I had an interview last week for a christian school. I came in amid a flurry of activity that I was told was track and field day. I was asked to wait in the office and while I was there, a boy with a bloody elbow and knee came in, looked at me strangely, then went off with the secretary to find a band-aid that would stick. After this I was led into the office to start my interview. The first question was:

"Tell me about how you came to know Jesus as your personal Savior?"

Not a typical question for an interview, but then I knew this wasn't a normal situation. I answered her question very honestly and it was a bit emotional for me since it is a very very personal topic. And got these comments about it. "Wow, you were quite young weren't you?" (I was entering high school) "So you don't remember the exact time it happened?"(Most people have a "moment", I don't remember a day, just a month and general realization) "Well, have you prayed for forgiveness?"(Obviously she doesn't believe me now.)

And so on and so forth. I didn't talk much about the music side of my teaching and what little I did say she didn't seem to keen on. In general, she told me what the current teacher did and could I be an exact replica of that person please (right down to finding a husband who would build a set for the annual musical since he was a carpenter)? Then there was a lot of little side comments and looks like I wasn't a good enough christian and I have never felt so judged in an interview in my entire life.

When I got home and reflected on the interview, I realised that I probably wouldn't get it.
1. Let's face it, christians like that can be the most judgemental people on the planet. Speaking as a christian, I think I can say that my number one problem with strong christians is there superiority while wearing a humble mask. Not being like that and my very "love everyone as you love yourself" and my respecting people of all faiths didn't match up with the christian bubble the kids needed.
2. I am a process teacher and that was a product environment. I have done the big shows with the dancing and the modern music and the "look at the little monkey's perform!" and I respect that. But my main goal with my students is to give them something they will learn, not mimic. While I was interviewing, I was to understand the most important event of the year was the spring musical and to me that is hypocritical for the school. I would think that Jesus would want us to learn and be the best students possible, not to have an event showcasing themselves while pretending to focus on God.
3. She seemed extremely fake. I have met and befriended many different types of teachers, including christians and this lady made me feel very awkward and not at all at ease.

A few days later I received me "thanks, but no thanks" letter and that was that.

In other news, it is has been hot as hades in my house after our air conditioner broke on Friday. The repair man came out, spend almost two hours trying to "cool down the compressor" then said it should work and he would come back to check it out in a week. An hour later, it was not working. After calling up and asking what was going on, we found out the compressor was broken and needed to be replaced. But, at the time of the call, it was too late for them to come back out and they wouldn't be able to do it till Monday. We found this out when we got patched through to the person that was at the house an hour earlier.

The jerk KNEW that it was broken and that what he did was a temporary fix that would last twenty minutes. How convenient that by the time we called and found out that information it was too late. It has been in the nineties this weekend and my poor cat looked like he was on death's door until I picked him up and kept him in the basement to cool him off. Thankfully, this evening it finally rained and has cooled into the seventies.

This hasn't been the best weekend for me. Basically, lots of people suck and I am trying not to generalize. Because, really, that would be very un-Christian of me.