"Honoring ALL Those Who Serve Our Country"

With the recent Memorial Day pandering and other various military recognition holidays and appreciation days (there are quite a few if you research it) something occurred to me and has made quit upset. It started with a grocery store flier advertising a 10% discount for all military off their entire shopping order. This angered me because this particular store did nothing like this for teacher appreciation week. And let me tell you, teachers get paid crap just like those in the military but we get worse benefits and in some cases worse pay. Some of us even work in conditions that can be just as hazardous and frightening and stressful as those in war. And, it isn't just teachers, there are cops, firefighters, and emergency responders.

A tag line I constantly see when honor those in the military is "for those serving our country." Now first of all they aren't serving me, since I've been around they haven't done one thing to serve me or my county except to blindly do what higher ups tell them to do, or kill. National Guard and coast guard is an exception. But, I digress.

Last time I check teachers are also probably the MOST under appreciated for "serving our country." In fact, like cops, firefighters and EMS, we are all DIRECTLY serving our country on a daily basis. We are the ones who keep our country going. And, we do it without free family health insurance, military housing, government subsidized education and training, hazard pay bonuses, government subsidized goods sold to military families only at bases, the list goes on and on.

To end, I'd like to share what I received in appreciation of my dedication and sacrifice for teaching...3 pieces of candy, 2 boxes of paper clips and 2 rolls of scotch tape. Free entrance into Cypress Gardens (on condition of hearing their field trip spiel). And various discounts to other amusement parks I can't afford to take my family to nor to even drive to and stay for a weekend because I get paid jack-crap. Oh, and as further sacrifice, I will not be getting any raises next school year, but my family health insurance will be going up 10%...so I'll be taking home even less. But hey...I didn't get canned like some people.