A mixed bag of wishes for the new year

EDUCATION MATTERS

Glendale News-Press
January 7, 2005

BY DAN KIMBER

I’m a great one for new beginnings, although I’m not crazy about the
word, “resolution.” “I resolve,” sounds too much like, “I’ll do this or
else.” When “or else” happens, as it often does, there is a sense of
failure, which makes succeeding more difficult. Hopes, wishes and good
intentions make more sense for people like me who are easily led astray
from resolutions.

The following is a real mixed bag of hopes and good intentions for a new
year. If some of it seems petty, trivial, mean-spirited or
short-sighted, know that it comes from an imperfect human being whose
hopes for a better world spring eternal, especially as a new year
approaches.

. I hope that Naira Khachatrian, whose self-anointed public crusade is
to denounce our school district, takes a broader view of the situation.
Her only audience seems to be non-English- speaking parents who have not
yet availed themselves of the services our district generously offers.

I can’t help but think that Khachatrian should bless the day that she
chose to come to this country, where her children’s needs would be so
well attended, rather than always speak about how much better things
were in Armenia. Instead, she accuses Glendale schools of failing to
reach out to its immigrant students and compares the district’s
negligence to atrocities committed during the Armenian genocide. This
woman’s breathtaking lack of knowledge is surpassed only by her lack of
gratitude for a school district that has undergone revolutionary change
to accommodate its immigrant population.

And while on the subject of village cranks, I seem to have awakened one
myself. Let me reiterate that divergent viewpoints are welcome, but I’m
not real keen on having my words taken out of context. I will continue
to believe that words like “liberal” and “conservative,” while
occasionally useful, are usually misleading. They invariably freeze
people in motion, sacrificing intelligence for the convenience of
mindless labels.

“The far-left views of Mr. Kimber.” What more does one need to know
about Mr. Kimber?

And just a final note on the above. What I write in this space and what
I say in my classroom are, with few exceptions, separate. I thought that
was rather obvious.

. I hope that cigarette companies will abandon their bold-faced lies
about wanting to dissuade teenagers from smoking. Why on Earth would
major corporations, whose profits depend on cultivating an addiction to
their product among, specifically, teenagers, do anything to interrupt
that profit?

People don’t start smoking in their 20s. The allure of tobacco begins
years before. That these corporations entice adults to their killing
products is one thing — it can always be argued that smoking is a
personal choice, and that we are free to choose. But to present a
benign, caring image to the public by advocating a “responsible” use of
their product — combines blatant hypocrisy with a callous disregard for
the suffering their product ultimately causes.

. I hope that people will soon rise up and say “enough” to theaters
that advertise products to a captive audience that has just paid $10 for
a seat and about the same for popcorn and a drink.

I mean, really, what’s next? Commercial breaks during the movie?

There are, no doubt, advertising executives speculating just when that
might be introduced to a docile public, but if enough people call to
find out whether their local theater subjects its patrons to ads, and
then make a conscious decision to go elsewhere to theaters that don’t,
owners might be persuaded to drop the ads.

. On a lighter and decidedly personal note, I’m hoping to encounter
fewer people in 2005 who violate that face-to-face space during
conversations. For those who seem to want to bring our noses together
when we talk, here’s a suggestion: When I back away — let me. When my
glasses fog up — back off. Ditto for people who pick their teeth or
clean their nails or … who want to share their body maintenance with
the world.

. One can only hope that reality programs on TV will go away, much as
one might hope that hemorrhoids are a passing thing.

I am, however, less than hopeful when I consider that professional
“wrestling” is still popular in our country.

. My cat has amazingly bad breath. I mean really bad breath. I’m
wishing in the new year that he will cease yawning in my face when I am
asleep. I really like this cat, but the breath thing is coming between
us. He has jolted me out of a sound sleep more than once. Only my piano
teacher when I was 10 had worse breath. We shared a piano bench for one
hour each week for two years. A lovely, gentle lady she was, but someone
I always thought had eaten bad food before our lessons.

There’s more, but I’ll spare you. Do let me know what you think.

DAN KIMBER is a teacher in the Glendale Unified School District, where
he has taught for more than 30 years. He may be reached at dkimb8@aol.com.

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