This morning's paper had a photograph prominently positioned on the front page, featuring a group of individuals wearing t-shirts that had S.O.S. printed on them. (I'm not certain about the period after each letter. That is my editing choice.) At first glance, I assumed I knew what the letters stood for, only to be very disappointed -later reading the accompanying article - with what the letters actually represented.
Because it was an article about teachers, the unfortunate many who have been RIFfed (Reduction In Force) due to the critical condition of our state's economy, I made the erroneous guess that S.O.S. meant save our schools. I was disillusioned, to say the least, to learn that the letters actually represented Save Our Staff. If I lived in the school district that was the focus of the article, I would write a letter to the editor, expressing my dismay. While I understand that saving staff jobs is the ultimate priority of the union, saving our schools should always be the underlying reason to save anything education-related. I won't spend much time here, on my soap box, but I feel the need to express my opinion about what I believe the order of 'saving' should be: By saving our Students, we save our Schools, and the result of those two saves are that we would save our Staff(s). Come on, people. Let's get our priorities straight.
Then again, we could interpret S.O.S. to be Save Our Souls, which, heaven knows (pun intended), we all could use. Perhaps, if we saved our souls, we'd save our schools, our students, and our staffs.
I'll ponder this awhile. In the meantime, I'll S.O.S. - save my stomach - by eating breakfast.
Ancora imparo
