Ohhhh so much going on in California...

To say that things have been a little rough for the Eagleman household in California is an understatement. You all know about our frustrations with our landlord, the shooting that occurred outside our home a few weeks ago, etc. While all of those things seemed bad, yesterday was a really bad day. Here's the story:

Karl was at school and one of his students put up his hand to give him a high-five. Being the enthusiastic teacher that he is, Karl gave the kid a high-five. WELL, the kid had put a thumbtack in between his fingers so that he would puncture Karl with the thumbtack. It drew blood from his hand and made a mark and scab. Karl washed it, of course, and went to the nurse's office to rub it with an alcohol swab, but then he found out that this same student had done the exact same thing to another student earlier in the day with the same thumbtack!

When I heard about this I was EXTREMELY upset. First of all, Karl's school did nothing to discipline the student and it was generally brushed off by the administration. Last night I made Karl call the hospital to ask what he should do since I knew there was a chance he could need medical attention since it was a dirty thumbtack that had been used to pierce at least one other person. I also did an internet search and found out that a similar situation happened at a high school in Utah a few years ago and charges were pressed against the person with the thumbtack. When he called the hospital the woman on the phone told him he was required to file a police report because it was assault. So...he filed the police report and set up an appointment to see a doctor today. He was also told that he needed to file something with occupational health since the incident occurred on the job and his employer would be liable if anything happened to him.

Karl went into the Principal's office this morning, and he informed her of the health risks involved in the incident, the danger posed to himself, other teachers, and the rest of the students, and the fact that the school would be liable if anything happened to him. After hearing these things the Principal decided that she would move forward with expelling the student at fault. Hallelujah! I am amazed that no one else realized the severity of the situation. In this day and age, blood-related illnesses are a SERIOUS issue and not to be taken lightly by anyone.

Karl was able to get into the doctor's office today and the good news is that there is a very, very, very, very, very, very, very slim chance he could have been affected by a blood-related illness. I can't even begin to imagine working in a job where I felt threatened or that I needed to be afraid of a student. Everyone please keep Karl in your thoughts and prayers, as his is no easy job and he is having a very stressful and trying year. I feel very bad because compared to him, I have it easy.


PART 2 OF MY POST:
As for the election, I must admit I haven't followed much of it this week because I'm way too busy with other things. I have had so much on my mind with this entire situation at Karl's school that I didn't even know IU hired a new Athletic Director or that the Phillies won the World Series. If you know me, you know that's a BIG DEAL. I am usually completely on top of the latest news in sports, particularly IU and MLB. What I do know about the election, however, comes from listening to NPR: the Republicans have begun a campaign full of smear tactics against Obama, claiming that he's a "socialist" and taking his entire "spread the wealth" remarks waaaaaaay out of context.

Let me put it to you all this way: unless you make OVER $250,000 per year, you are NOT going to have to "spread your wealth"...you're actually going to be the type of person who BENEFITS from it. Now, I know there are some of you out there who might make over $250k, but the vast majority of my friends, family, and acquaintances are NOT in this income bracket. Do not fall prey to the Republicans' desperate claims about Obama just because McCain and Palin are getting paranoid that they'll lose.

As for those people who seek to perpetuate the "spread the wealth" scare tactic amongst the rest of the population, let me ask you this: what ever happened to having a sense of goodwill for mankind? What about charity and helping those in need or picking up those who are down in tough times??? Have we no decent people in this country anymore who truly want to do what is right for society and CARE about others, not just their fat stash of cash?

I think about myself and what if there hadn't been banks or private lenders to help pay my way through grad school (both Masters and Ph.D.)? Without financial help from others, hardly anyone in our society would be able to achieve higher levels of education, which lead to better jobs, greater wealth, etc. The people who are spreading this "spread the wealth" myth need to remember where they came from and remember those who were there to help them when they encountered tough times. My guess is that most of us have had some sort of help along the way, whether it be from a parent, grandparent, scholarship made available by someone wealthier than us, etc. I worry that we are becoming much too much of an individualistic society and the concepts of community and goodwill have gone down the toilet.

Sometimes people cannot help the situation they are in and they do need outside help. Is that wrong? Should the wealthy of this country be able to hoard all of their money so that the poor keep getting poorer and the rich keep getting richer? I don't know too many people in the "rich" category (making $250k plus per year) so it seems to me that a lot of us are just going to keep getting poorer if some wealth ISN'T redistributed.

I've also heard the false claim from John McCain that he is all about job creation rather than redistribution. Let me tell you one thing: Barack Obama has championed JOB CREATION ever since he stepped onto the national scene. Just because he wants to redistribute wealth does not mean that he wants to ignore job creation! Obama has the best interests of our society at heart and we should not be persuaded by the Republicans' last-minute scare tactics.

That's my two cents on the election for tonight. I think the people and media crying about the redistribution of wealth need to step back and take a look at themselves and their level of selfishness and greediness. It's almost Christmas time and I see a loooooottttt of Grinches out there!