Mean People Suck or Sixth Grade Teachers Can Be Less Mature Than Their Students

Ok...today I was held hostage by my job. Stuffed into a windowless, drafty room for eight hours. Granted, by the end of a rather non-productive day none of us were at our best.

However, is there a syndrome of some sort that makes a rude group/clique/small mob believe they are invisible to the rest of the room? Each time certain individuals spoke at this meeting, this little mob of bullies began rolling their eyes, laughing, making exaggerated, and may I add unflattering, facial contortions. WTF???

It was the first time in my life that I deliberately gave an adult my "teacher/pissed off mommy" look. Apparently that was enough to interrupt this unnamed syndrome and the symptoms abated.

I believe this syndrome is related to another which my husband and I refer to as "State of Oblivion". Persons exhibiting symptoms are simply called "Oblivions". Hey, I never said we were terribly clever at chez Swanson. I am sure you have met these people. No? Just this week I spotted the following:

• a girl at Wegman's who wanted her sub toasted AFTER it was wrapped and bagged.
• annoying women with push carts at Kohl's who blocked the aisles with their carts in the shoe department
• more annoying women at Kohl's weaving down the aisles while their heads were turned sharply in another direction
• drivers in pricey cars and the right of way coming to complete stops before making right hand turns
• me, if I continue to add to this list and bore you with this rant:)

You get the idea. If you spot these individuals, remain calm. Shoot them "the look"; you will feel better and they will not notice. Avoid close contact. Although not contagious their actions may be harmful to your personal well being.

Brain Dead?

Since school started, I have been in a funk. After six weeks of school you would think that I would be back in the groove. But I am not. I could blame it on a lot of things: having a student teacher, working with one of the "worst" groups of youngsters to grace our halls in many years, listening to the constant whining from some of my co-workers, listening to the constant whining of my children as they work their way through the first weeks back at high school, sorting out the conflicting messages of the political pundits, attempting to understand the real causes of the Wall Street debacle...you get the idea.

Whatever the reason(s) the effects are even worse. My reading, which over the summer, was fast, fierce, and fun has become sporadic (to the detriment of my book club obligations). My productive level of knitting is back to its pre-summer trickle. My social life, which I was really making an effort to improve, is starting to wane.

Now, could my reading matter be part of the problem? The Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo was a doorstop of a book. Named after the famous bridge in Venice, this 547 page missive, reminiscent of Empire Falls, takes us through the lives of Lucy (Lou C. Lynch), his best/worst friend Bobby Marconi, and their love, Sara Berg.

The first 300 pages were entertaing, the last 247 were just plain tedious. So stick a fork in it - it's done.