What's bugging you? (2017-2018)

[Baldkin]

My community was hit with a mass shooting today. I am not handling it very well.

 

My cousin works at WTS Paradigm. Thankfully he's okay.... but it's just awful.

 

The National Council of Family Relations put together a solid list of resources. If you need them, utilize them. Talk. Cope. Find your best way to deal with the trauma. Internalizing things will only cause you more pain in the long term.

 

https://www.ncfr.org/resources/resource-collections/coping-wake-shootings-mass-violence-and-terrorism

[TURBO]

My brother-in-law lives in Iowa, small town, small community of about 5,000 people, mostly rural.

 

A coupe of weeks ago, a 12 year old walks up to his teacher, points a gun at her and pulls the trigger. Luckily, the student was not smart enough to remove the safety, and the gun did not go off. Teacher knocked the gun out of his hands, the class immediately jumped on top of the kid and held him down until the cops/and or other help arrived on the scene. What would have happened had that gun went off is anyone's guess. Would he have started shooting students, would he have turned the gun on himself? Thankfully, we'll never know. That teacher though, how do you come back from that? She absolutely could be dead.

 

I'm assuming they have an ALICE plan in their school which promotes FIGHT if necessary. That would explain the other students in the room jumping the shooter. I don't know if the teacher told them to jump him, or if they did it on their own. Either way, it's impressive that they acted so quickly.

 

This can happen anyplace, anytime in our nation's schools. There is no way outside of metal detectors and body searches to stop it. Even then, kids can wait outside after school or before school and start picking other kids and staff off with rifles, assault guns, pistols, pipe bombs, whatever...

 

Being a high school teacher, this touches me pretty deeply as I know that on any given day, this can happen at my school. There are no schools that are exempt from this danger, none. Every school has a certain population of kids that could do it, it's just a matter of will they make that decision someday, or won't they. If they make that decision, will other kids in the know report it before it happens?

 

It's scary.

[pitchleague]

turbo, I think about this every stinking day. And I teach in an elementary school.

 

It seems just about once every couple of weeks, some kid brings a weapon to school, whether it be a knife, plastic gun, or whatever.

 

Last school year, a second grade girl was expelled because she had a small gun in her backpack. She had absolutely NO idea it was in there. Apparently, the family was out camping over the weekend and dad, in a hurry to pack stuff up, put the gun in her backpack, meaning to unpack it when they got home. Well, he forgot about it. Rules are rules, though, and the girl--a total sweetheart and overall great kid--had to be kicked out. THAT was a crazy day at school.

 

I pray that it never happens in our town or at my school, but, really, I pray that it doesn't happen ANYWHERE. It's sad that sometimes kids think that is the only solution.

[adambr2]

turbo, I think about this every stinking day. And I teach in an elementary school.

 

It seems just about once every couple of weeks, some kid brings a weapon to school, whether it be a knife, plastic gun, or whatever.

 

Last school year, a second grade girl was expelled because she had a small gun in her backpack. She had absolutely NO idea it was in there. Apparently, the family was out camping over the weekend and dad, in a hurry to pack stuff up, put the gun in her backpack, meaning to unpack it when they got home. Well, he forgot about it. Rules are rules, though, and the girl--a total sweetheart and overall great kid--had to be kicked out. THAT was a crazy day at school.

 

I pray that it never happens in our town or at my school, but, really, I pray that it doesn't happen ANYWHERE. It's sad that sometimes kids think that is the only solution.

 

I feel awful for that girl, and feel that dad was incredibly irresponsible. I mean, come on. First of all a gun is not a can of bug spray, you just do not throw it wherever in an attempt to clean up quickly from a camping trip. It should be handled responsibly and should not have been anywhere near the girl's backpack at any point.

 

And after all that to just...forget about it? Really? Again, it's a gun. You do not just forget about your gun.

 

It's a shame that she had to be made an example of in front of her school and have her life turned upside down because of dad's careless actions.

[RobDeer 45]

Turbo, what a scary story! It's just so messed up. I won't get in to the politics or potential solutions because there are a lot of thoughts on it. I will say that it scares me so much hearing my kindergartner tell us about his lockdown drills. I'm so sad that kids have to grow up in a world where they have to worry about this happening in their schools. That's so wrong.

[owbc]

turbo, I think about this every stinking day. And I teach in an elementary school.

 

It seems just about once every couple of weeks, some kid brings a weapon to school, whether it be a knife, plastic gun, or whatever.

 

Last school year, a second grade girl was expelled because she had a small gun in her backpack. She had absolutely NO idea it was in there. Apparently, the family was out camping over the weekend and dad, in a hurry to pack stuff up, put the gun in her backpack, meaning to unpack it when they got home. Well, he forgot about it. Rules are rules, though, and the girl--a total sweetheart and overall great kid--had to be kicked out. THAT was a crazy day at school.

 

I pray that it never happens in our town or at my school, but, really, I pray that it doesn't happen ANYWHERE. It's sad that sometimes kids think that is the only solution.

 

That's incredibly pathetic, makes my blood boil. Why does the poor, innocent girl have to be the victim? The parents should be the ones facing charges/penalties.

[TURBO]

turbo, I think about this every stinking day.

 

Same, we have to.

 

 

It's just another part of the day in the life of a teacher, that when I started in this profession, wasn't even a consideration.

 

What teacher in 1990 thought that one day I can go to school, and possibly get shot, and not go home from school, ever again.

[pacopete4]

Columbine 1999. The day society seems to have changed forever. It sucks. I hate even having to have those discussions in my classrooms but they are necessary.

 

Turbo, do you know the town it happened in? I taught in Iowa three years previous to this one.

[pitchleague]

To those that responded . . . .

 

I wholeheartedly agree that the dad was totally irresponsible and the little girl was not at fault. Many of us (most?) felt TERRIBLE for her. I believe that there was talk at one point that the school board would make an exception for her to return to school but it was decided not to pursue it because "once you make one exception, then others will be looking for exceptions, too." Or at least that's what I was told.

 

I remember that we had a very lively discussion about it at our staff meeting later that week. There were many staff members that were incredulous that the whole event happened in the first place. The gun literally sat in her backpack all day long and wasn't discovered until the end of the day when she had to put some papers/homework/whatever in her backpack before dismissal. Apparently, she screamed out, "Oh no!" and the teacher found it and, the next thing you know, the sherriff's department showed up.

 

I believe they moved out of state after the incident. I hope she's okay and not scarred for life because of this.

[TURBO]

Columbine 1999. The day society seems to have changed forever. It sucks. I hate even having to have those discussions in my classrooms but they are necessary.

 

Turbo, do you know the town it happened in? I taught in Iowa three years previous to this one.

 

Not sure of spelling... Eldridge I think?

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2018/09/11/pistols-safety-catch-may-have-stopped-year-old-shooting-his-teacher-face-report-says/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.792f1d3af52d

 

The news story is a bit different than what the town knows happened based on people in the room at the time. The article says the teacher wrestled the student, but the story in town is that she knocked the gun away and the kids jumped him. My brother in law thought that they didn't want the second part of the story in the media, why I do not know. Either way, it was a pretty bad situation, and that teacher has a new lease on life...

 

https://www.kwqc.com/content/news/New-details-on-student-who-brought-gun-to-class-at-North-Scott-Jr-High-School-492728041.html

[owbc]

Thanks for the additional details pitchleague.

 

I don't want to comment further because the issue upsets me but I just want to thank the teachers in this thread for the incredibly difficult job they do for these reasons and others.

[jerichoholicninja]

Not a teacher but I did work at a high school and monitored students throughout the day. While not a top reason why I left the job, a potential shooting was probably in the top 10. We had drills but it seemed neither the students nor teachers took them very seriously. We were basically told it's up to the teacher/monitor whether to hide or flee in that situation. My room was unique in that it was windowless, there were multiple entrances/exits, and also a couple rooms within the room. For each period I had a mental plan about what to do if something happened based on the number and makeup of the students, whether to barricade and hunker down or head out the other door and run.

[NeedMoreFans]

I wasn't affected at all by this shooting, but my kids' schools were locked down for an hour or so. I don't know why it shook me so much.

 

I'm also a high school teacher and think about mass shootings a lot. Then the story emerges yesterday afternoon that a student at a Madison school accidentally fired a gun on a bus after school and shot two of his friends. I asked the question, "did that student have the gun with him at school all day?" Then I thought about how many students are carrying a gun at my school?

[pacopete4]

Not a teacher but I did work at a high school and monitored students throughout the day. While not a top reason why I left the job, a potential shooting was probably in the top 10. We had drills but it seemed neither the students nor teachers took them very seriously. We were basically told it's up to the teacher/monitor whether to hide or flee in that situation. My room was unique in that it was windowless, there were multiple entrances/exits, and also a couple rooms within the room. For each period I had a mental plan about what to do if something happened based on the number and makeup of the students, whether to barricade and hunker down or head out the other door and run.

 

There’s a lot more teachers that think the way you did while working at a school than you think. Been at three different schools and had many conversation. It’s a top priority for most. Unfortunately planning can only do so much. Which is probably why there are so many mixed messages on how to react. ALICE training seems to be rhe best to me so far.

 

On another note, my school had a federal grant and we installed bullet proof glass last week. So, there’s that, I guess.

[Patrick425]

Can anyone understand what "Tubey" is saying in the WI Dells commercial where it opens up with him saying "Boy, 'blank' is really happening in the Reyes' household"? What's really happening in their household? Our family tries to figure it out every time it comes on. We have no idea. Sounds like he is saying "flights" or "fights", but neither would make any sense.

[BrewersSuperCollector]

Can anyone understand what "Tubey" is saying in the WI Dells commercial where it opens up with him saying "Boy, 'blank' is really happening in the Reyes' household"? What's really happening in their household? Our family tries to figure it out every time it comes on. We have no idea. Sounds like he is saying "flights" or "fights", but neither would make any sense.

 

life's

[BrewersSuperCollector]

Can anyone understand what "Tubey" is saying in the WI Dells commercial where it opens up with him saying "Boy, 'blank' is really happening in the Reyes' household"? What's really happening in their household? Our family tries to figure it out every time it comes on. We have no idea. Sounds like he is saying "flights" or "fights", but neither would make any sense.

 

life's

[Patrick425]

Ah..ok. That makes sense.

[GAME05]

You know how sometimes there's that guy in the office who comes in early to work so they can get ahead of their tasks, and they do it every day? The guy who eats lunch at his desk so he can keep working even though he's not getting paid for that hour? The guy who just goes way overboard? And you get pretty frustrated by it because it's not really necessary most all of the time, but at the same time it makes you feel guilty and lazy for it bothering you in the first place? Well the culture of my workplace is like that, and it's frustrating. I feel like I'm going to get fired if I take a 61-minute lunch. Sitting down to have a cup of coffee in the morning has been called lazy.

[JimH5]

I may get run out of town for saying this, but some of the Brewers Twitterverse towards the Cubs is getting pretty chesty.

 

The Cole Hamels stuff and the Flying the L and all of that seems a little strong for a fan base that's seen exactly 1 League Champion in almost 50 years.

 

I dislike Chicago fans as much as the next guy, but I would rather see Brewers fans celebrating wins instead of Cubs losses.

[LouisEly]

If you live in the city of Chicago, there is a 19% sales tax on vehicle leases. Yes, 19%. Doesn't matter where you lease the vehicle, it matters where you live.

[nodakfan17]

I may get run out of town for saying this, but some of the Brewers Twitterverse towards the Cubs is getting pretty chesty.

 

The Cole Hamels stuff and the Flying the L and all of that seems a little strong for a fan base that's seen exactly 1 League Champion in almost 50 years.

 

I dislike Chicago fans as much as the next guy, but I would rather see Brewers fans celebrating wins instead of Cubs losses.

The giant L flag at Miller Park a few weeks back was funny, but I’d say that gag has peaked.

[nodakfan17]

If you live in the city of Chicago, there is a 19% sales tax on vehicle leases. Yes, 19%. Doesn't matter where you lease the vehicle, it matters where you live.

I wonder how that compares to the rest of Illinois or even neighboring states (IDK, I’ve never leased)? But yeah, ‘rediculous’ is one of the first words to come to mind. I’ve always thought paying sales tax on a used vehicle purchase was unnecessary because someone already paid the sales tax when it was new.

[LouisEly]

I believe the rest of Illinois is 9%, which is the same as the vehicle purchase tax. The city of Chicago adds another 10% on top of it. Likely to "nudge" (shove?) you towards using the city's public transportation system. But if you reverse commute to the suburbs and/or where the public transportation system doesn't go, it's hard to use public transportation.

 

If you move to Illinois and try to register a vehicle they look back three months and if you've purchased/leased in the last three months they charge you the difference between what you paid in that state and Illinois tax.

 

Good thing my parents still live in WI. I could pay them to lease the vehicle and save almost $3000 in taxes on a $500/month vehicle.

[chuckiehacks]

The Brewers ticketing now uses the ReCaptcha system to verify that I am not a robot. I'm trying to check for tickets released last minute today, but every time I make a selection, I'm forced to click through 10 screens of "click on all the pictures of fire hydrants." before it will actually perform the search.