7
Jun

Memories of things past – the teaching days

Once in my life, I was a teacher. It was not an easy job. Sure, it had its highs and lows, but it could be boring at certain points. Teaching’s a serious business, I tell you.

How so? For several hours, you stand in front, yakking and yakking till your throat hurts. It could be frustrating, especially when you kept on yakking and yakking only to see your students either sleeping or not listening. The first class in the morning was the worst time. Everyone was sleepy – including the teacher. So I always tried to crack jokes to somehow lighten up the mood. But my sense of humor was next to zero; I collected jokes and read them at class. I still have a folder at my file server containing the jokes collected through my teaching years. My joking was a hit-or-miss affair, most of the time misses, since for most of the students the jokes I shared were rather stale.

Then there were gaps in the schedule wherein I had no classes. There were times where the gap stretched into hours. So I did what a decent teacher would do: read books.

Ok, but at least I was reading. Right? Right.

Still, it was boring. What was that cliche about boredom leading a man to do stupid things? Well, I was not exempt.

Back then, when you have a Nokia 7650, you were ahead of the technological curve (actually it meant you had money). It was the first phone to have a camera. A VGA camera was high-tech. It also made people camwhores. Like me.

There are more pictures, but that image is enough torture, no?

But the novelty of camwhoring faded in, what, months. Boredom can lead to delusion.

Yes, even students got bored. And delusional.

Anyway, it could only get worse.

Long-haired, barong-clad, what could be worse than that image?

—-

Lest anyone gets the idea that teaching is boring, it is not entirely boring. It can only get boring when you have so many free time in between classes. And first subjects. Most of time it can be fun. And interesting. Interesting for you get to meet all types of people.

And depending on what kind of teacher are you, you can have an adoring set of fans, este, students pala. I’ve had my share.

Those number of fans could only mean I was a good teacher, no? No? K.

Anyway, I remain friends with some of my students after they graduated and/or after I left teaching. I saw some of them fall in love; I saw some of them fall out of love; saw some of them got married, have kids, and separate later on. I saw some of them succeed and revel in their victories; I saw some of them fail and commiserate in their sorrows. I remember basketball games after school; of hotdogs-and-ice cream get-togethers; of trips to beach resorts and far-off places.

Yes, it’s a mixed bag. But I miss all of it still.

Will I go back to teaching? I don’t know. I had written about it before; back then, I said that in the end it could be a lonely job. You see new students come in, and you see them leave. Repeat every year. That’s my reason why I remain out of the academe.

3
Jun

A monarchy for this country

So, last night the honorable members of the House of Representatives have honorably adopted House Resolution 1109. (Read the resolution here). The last paragraph of the resolution says:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, THAT THE MEMBERS OF CONGRESS BE CONVENED FOR THE PURPOSE OF PROPOSING AMENDMENTS TO, OR REVISION OF THE CONSTITUTION UPON A VOTE OF THREE-FOURTHS OF ALL ITS MEMBERS AND THAT UPON BEING CONVENED SHALL ADOPT ITS RULES OF PROCEDURES THAT SHALL GOVERN ITS PROCEEDINGS.

I commend the honorable members of the honorable House of Representatives for having the honor of doing the honorable thing, for having the honorable political will to do what is honorable, even if the majority (who are obviously dishonorable) thinks Charter change is dishonorable. Now that the honorable members have chosen to do the honorable thing, may I suggest the following changes be made to our Constitution:

1. Adopt monarchy as our form of government. Recent years have shown that this country needs an honorable leader, an honorable leader that everyone adores, honors, kowtows to, and respects. An honorable leader that knows what needs to be done is what this country needs.

The honorable leader must be a monarch. Our people will only respect a leader who is honored by the heavens with power and glory. A monarch who has the Mandate of Heaven can never go wrong, and will always do the right thing. A monarch will have the political will to do what is necessary, even if it unpopular. No one will dare question a monarch, which will bring much needed stability this country.

2. We should have a unicameral parliament to assist the monarch in governing our country. A unicameral parliament, composed of honorable lawmakers, will draft laws according to the monarch’s wishes. For isn’t the monarch the fount of honor? And honorable lawmakers do honor the fount of honor? Honorable lawmakers know that the monarch, being the fount of honor, is honorable enough to have the welfare of the people in mind; as such, they are honorable enough to abide by the monarch’s honorable instructions.

We need a unicameral parliament. A bicameral one assumes there is a higher House. This is dishonorable and an affront to equality. Honor dictates that no one is greater than the other (except the monarch), and a higher House bestows higher honors on its members. This inequality is dishonorable and foments unnecessary bickering. With honor, check and balance is no longer needed.

3. Retain the right of free speech. We must let the people express what they like, may it be blog posts or letters to newspapers or photos or videos or status messages. The people looks to the monarch as the fount of honor; as such, the people are honorable enough to express their thoughts honorably. With people that values honor, limits to free speech are unnecessary.

I have one particular amendment to suggest. When we adopt monarchy as our form of government, may I suggest that this one be made the Throne where the monarch sits? Thank you.