Grumble, grumble, grumble *UPDATED*

I’ve been so quiet today blog-wise because I’ve been slogging through a petition to the Court of Appeal based upon underlying motion papers that I did not write. Things would have been better had I written the underlying motion papers because they would then have been intelligible and would have made logical (even if not winning) arguments. As it is, I’m trying to bring order to chaos, all the while trying to respond to the attorney who wrote the original papers who really, really wants me to include his original arguments, few of which make sense or actually comport with controlling law.

The only “respite” from this brain-breaking task was a meeting I attended at my kids’ school, where I was impressed all over again by what goodwill the teachers and administrators have, and how little sense they have of their primary mandate, which is to teach the children. To this end, a lot of the meeting was given over to “green education.” I pointed out that the most useful thing would be to teach the kids to turn off lights when they leave a room, to close the refrigerator door, and not to waste water — in other words, exactly the same things cost-conscious American mothers and fathers have been telling children for 60 years. I also pointed out that the activities in which the school does engage, weighing garbage, solar cookers, etc., have very little effect on the children’s habits. The response was that the school is really trying to educate the parents. I was too taken aback by this information to voice the obvious answer, which is that it is not the school’s responsibility to educate me and that, in fact, I take umbrage at their thinking that it is. Probably just as well that I was tongued-tied in shock, because I would undoubtedly have deeply offended every one of the good natured, but misguided souls, in that room.

As you can tell, I am irked and frustrated, and this whole day has drained both my energy and, at least for today, my enthusiasm for writing anything at all. I’ve got to finish this draft tonight, though, so tomorrow I should be restored to my usual cynical, but ebullient self.

UPDATE: Huff, puff…. Sigh…. Groan…. But almost done with this gosh darn writ.

On another point, I realized that I should have named this post “Raising a generation of green shirts.” As you may recall, one of the most effective things the Nazis did was to get to the kids, the youthful brown shift brigades, and have them both “educate” and inform against their parents. I already get the heavy-handed “education” and can easily envision my children squealing to school administrators about the jar I sent to the trash rather than the recycling bin. In any event, I’m still rather impressed with the anguished fervor with which this roomful of teachers, administrators and parents discussed the stress of figuring out which items were, in fact, recyclable. Really, these people have too much time on their hands and too little grasp of the real world in their heads.