Boys Don't Cry [part I]
This story is dedicated to Francisco "Paco" Carriedo de Guzman. Though I never met him, he existed.
Jack returned from Australia earlier this week to find that while he was away a boy he'd tried to help had been murdered in prison.
While he was in Australia — Jack, that is — the annual V.E. Day celebrations took place. V.E. Day and Remembrance Day, November 11, have extraordinary significance for Jack. He has the deepest respect for the men who served our country during The War, and remembrance of them affects him in a way that I cannot articulate. Partly because I am unable to find the words to do it justice, and partly because, were I somehow able, to do so would be akin to showing you a naked picture of him.
Over the last few weeks, in between marking exams, hunting mockingbirds, and karaokeing, I've had many extended email conversations with Jack. This one, on V.E. Day:
"The United States of America is the greatest country on earth," Jack wrote to me, "A few smart white guys (Jefferson and Adams among their numbers) thought it up and did it. Not because it was easy, but because it was hard."
"On this VE day, it occurs to me that there's only three guys to be: A Truman guy, an Eisenhower guy, or an FDR guy.
"Me, I'm an FDR guy. A New Dealer.
"You, you're a Truman guy."
To which I replied, "Ahem. I am not a guy. Clearly, it's been too long since you've had the opportunity to observe my backside walking away from you."
But May and November are not the months to joke with Jack.
"Like I said. A Truman guy."
He continued: "And before you ask, Kennedy and Johnson were FDR guys. An FDR guy sees the world the way he wishes it were, and tries to take it there. Nixon and Ford were Eisenhower guys. Carter was an FDR guy. Reagan was most definitely an Eisenhower guy — he saw the world the way he thought it should just, well, be in the first place, and tried to take it there, kicking and screaming. Bush I was an Eisenhower guy who thought like a Truman guy. Clinton was a Truman guy who wishes he were an FDR guy, but whose circumstances didn't allow it. Bush II isn't even really a guy, but his handlers are very, very dangerous guys. They're Hamilton guys, but without the social conscience. Hamilton guys are like live ordinance: you never know when they'll go off."
"What kind of president is Jed Bartlett?" I asked.
"Ah, my favourite president. Josiah Bartlett is an FDR guy who thinks he's a Truman guy, but whose destiny is to be a Jefferson guy, except there's only one Jefferson."
Now, Jack knows better than anyone that I love a good analogy, but he forgets that I still live in Canada and that I don't know (nor care, truth be told) much about American history.
"Give it to me in terms I can understand," I asked him.
"OK. Tell me, how do you feel when one of your students fails?" he asked.
"I hate it. I want them all to get As, but I know that's not possible. I hate giving them Ds and Fs, and I give them every benefit of the doubt... I let them rewrite assignments, I try as hard as I can to find the points, but there are times when I just can't do it. I just have to fail them."
"You're a Truman guy."
"What would an FDR guy do?"
"He'd do everything in his power to give that C student an A, and when he realizes it's not going to happen, he'll fail the student, feel like shit about it, and wonder where the system went wrong."
"What about the Eisenhower guy?"
"An Eisenhower guy would simply tell the student, if you want an A, you know what you need to do to get it. He'd fail the student without a second thought, and then, for good measure, beat the crap out of him."
Hmn. Maybe it's not so bad, then, to be a Truman guy.
"Are you kidding?" continued Jack, "A Truman guy is the best guy to be. I wish I could be a Truman guy.
"The Truman guy is the guy nobody appreciates at the time. Everybody dumps on the Truman guy. Everybody blames the Truman guy. But twenty years from now your students will be talking to their friends in a bar, or to their kids, and they'll tell them about a certain marketing professor they had, who forced them to learn how to use an apostrophe, and they'll tell it with a smile on their faces. They'll remember you."
Only once have I had a student to whom I had given a grade of D come to my office and cry.
It was a boy.
* * * To be concluded on Monday.
Jack returned from Australia earlier this week to find that while he was away a boy he'd tried to help had been murdered in prison.
While he was in Australia — Jack, that is — the annual V.E. Day celebrations took place. V.E. Day and Remembrance Day, November 11, have extraordinary significance for Jack. He has the deepest respect for the men who served our country during The War, and remembrance of them affects him in a way that I cannot articulate. Partly because I am unable to find the words to do it justice, and partly because, were I somehow able, to do so would be akin to showing you a naked picture of him.
Over the last few weeks, in between marking exams, hunting mockingbirds, and karaokeing, I've had many extended email conversations with Jack. This one, on V.E. Day:
"The United States of America is the greatest country on earth," Jack wrote to me, "A few smart white guys (Jefferson and Adams among their numbers) thought it up and did it. Not because it was easy, but because it was hard."
"On this VE day, it occurs to me that there's only three guys to be: A Truman guy, an Eisenhower guy, or an FDR guy.
"Me, I'm an FDR guy. A New Dealer.
"You, you're a Truman guy."
To which I replied, "Ahem. I am not a guy. Clearly, it's been too long since you've had the opportunity to observe my backside walking away from you."
But May and November are not the months to joke with Jack.
"Like I said. A Truman guy."
He continued: "And before you ask, Kennedy and Johnson were FDR guys. An FDR guy sees the world the way he wishes it were, and tries to take it there. Nixon and Ford were Eisenhower guys. Carter was an FDR guy. Reagan was most definitely an Eisenhower guy — he saw the world the way he thought it should just, well, be in the first place, and tried to take it there, kicking and screaming. Bush I was an Eisenhower guy who thought like a Truman guy. Clinton was a Truman guy who wishes he were an FDR guy, but whose circumstances didn't allow it. Bush II isn't even really a guy, but his handlers are very, very dangerous guys. They're Hamilton guys, but without the social conscience. Hamilton guys are like live ordinance: you never know when they'll go off."
"What kind of president is Jed Bartlett?" I asked.
"Ah, my favourite president. Josiah Bartlett is an FDR guy who thinks he's a Truman guy, but whose destiny is to be a Jefferson guy, except there's only one Jefferson."
Now, Jack knows better than anyone that I love a good analogy, but he forgets that I still live in Canada and that I don't know (nor care, truth be told) much about American history.
"Give it to me in terms I can understand," I asked him.
"OK. Tell me, how do you feel when one of your students fails?" he asked.
"I hate it. I want them all to get As, but I know that's not possible. I hate giving them Ds and Fs, and I give them every benefit of the doubt... I let them rewrite assignments, I try as hard as I can to find the points, but there are times when I just can't do it. I just have to fail them."
"You're a Truman guy."
"What would an FDR guy do?"
"He'd do everything in his power to give that C student an A, and when he realizes it's not going to happen, he'll fail the student, feel like shit about it, and wonder where the system went wrong."
"What about the Eisenhower guy?"
"An Eisenhower guy would simply tell the student, if you want an A, you know what you need to do to get it. He'd fail the student without a second thought, and then, for good measure, beat the crap out of him."
Hmn. Maybe it's not so bad, then, to be a Truman guy.
"Are you kidding?" continued Jack, "A Truman guy is the best guy to be. I wish I could be a Truman guy.
"The Truman guy is the guy nobody appreciates at the time. Everybody dumps on the Truman guy. Everybody blames the Truman guy. But twenty years from now your students will be talking to their friends in a bar, or to their kids, and they'll tell them about a certain marketing professor they had, who forced them to learn how to use an apostrophe, and they'll tell it with a smile on their faces. They'll remember you."
Only once have I had a student to whom I had given a grade of D come to my office and cry.
It was a boy.
Labels: Jack
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