21:54 - 18.07.05
Allies
Met up with the one mom from parent council on the bus into work today. We reminisced about that first year she was involved when things were so difficult. That was when the first principal, who insisted on a fine arts focus, left. Our parent group had been lobbying hard to have a strong academic program instilled as the basis of the schooling. The School Board's response was that children of families that were poor or immigrants weren't teachable, so they wouldn't supply the resources. That is why there were only textbooks for the teachers, but none for students. The new principal had been sent to deal with us "uppity women" as a punishment for his own behaviour at his last posting. Apparently he had the same expectations for equal treatment as we did. This is Canada and a democracy - not Europe with its emphasis on class based on criteria such as birth and wealth. Or so we thought. It was during the time when the province's economy collapsed, because of the battle for power between the federal government on one side and the provincial government and the oil companies on the other. The casualties were the families in my community. Massive, unforseen unemployment was the cause of our community's economic distress, no one had made a choice to be forced to accept welfare. Fact is, a lot of families chose to go hungry instead. By the end of the oil battle, fully 1/3 and probably more of the housing in our community was in foreclosure. Anyway with so many parents working two or three minimum wage jobs just to keep body and soul together, a lot of children had no safe place to go for lunch. We set up a parent run program for that and the principal accepted all our offers of time for working one on one with some of the children who had fallen far behind their grade, because of the withholding of resources from them the three years previous.
In October, one of the most popular teacher's mother and daughter were stabbed to death in a community on the other side of the city while she was at school teaching. She had often brought her daughter in to work on professional days, so we knew her personally. It seemed to be implied that if the daughter had been found before her mom returned from work at our school she might have been saved. Instead she simply bled to death over the length of the day. Partly in tribute and also partly to make certain that no other child we considered part of our community would be condemned to die in that way, our parent council set up a safety check program. Each morning and afternoon after attendance was taken, parent volunteers would call family members of missing children until we confirmed their whereabouts and safety. In later years it would become a source of some of our funniest anecdotes. Like the time we talked to the grandparents from "down east" who were babysitting their three grandchildren while the parents took a holiday a deux. The three young ones plotted to convince their grandparents that it was spring break - local schools were closed. The grandmother said what convinced them was the stellar performance of their five year old granddaughter. She kept up the illusion with flair and ease. An Oscar winner of the future, don't you know. At the time though all we were thinking of was safety and some piece of mind. That was also the year we talked with the umbrella group of parent councils in the city explaining the impact of the sudden poverty among families such as the ones in our communities. They set up a breakfast program for the hungriest children and a "coats for kids" program that accepted donations of winter gear for those whose families couldn't afford the cost. Meant that those children wouldn't miss a month or two of school, because they didn't have a coat to wear to school. The talk on the bus today was cathartic in many ways. It reminded us of a time when the whole community found it in itself to pull together for the sake of their children and it reminded us of how much we accomplished under some very difficult circumstances.
At work I wrote and sent off the weekly report then settled in to coding. About 10 in the am a weather migraine got a grip on me and I was really struggling just to be able to see. One of those "I'm seeing stars and I want to vomit" ones. I explained the problem to the one supervisor, because this is the first really severe episode I've had here. Last week wasn't great, but I could cope most of the time - not today. She said she had had a professor in university who had reacted like that - did I want to lie down. No my head would explode if I did that. I told her I was hoping the yoga class at noon would be enough to get me through the rest of the day - that I just wanted her to be aware that I wouldn't likely get as much coding done as usual. Yoga was focussed on release of tension in the shoulders and back. About half partner work. It went well after I hooked up with a woman about my age and size. There was a younger fellow who had asked to work together, but I still don't like being touched by anyone all that much. There were no gender nuances where the female was concerned so it was possible to just concentrate on digging out the knots in our muscles. I don't think I could have done that with the male at that point. Not with a migraine in to the mix. My problem, not his. Returned to the floor just as lunch hour ended to hear the perfumed coworker holding forth. "...in my long experience it seems to me that over time things just get worse..." One of the other coworkers said something to the effect that I was back and there was an abrupt end to the oration. Since all I do each day is come in, put my headphones on and code for the balance of each day I'm not certain that she could have been talking about me, but it was a curious reaction all the same.
The migraine stayed away for about an hour, then reasserted itself many times over. The one supervisor came by to ask how I was and noted that there two banks of clouds duking it out over the city. Big ugly dark storm clouds. Uh huh. I allowed I was having a lot of trouble staying conscious and that the flourescent lights were making things worse yet. She said I could bring my ball cap in if I wanted, after I explained about the last assignment. Ahh. A couple of the other staff came by to confirm they were having the same migraines today and had had last week too. Misery loves company, but at least I didn't feel like such a freak after that.
On the way home on the bus, the neighbour from across the street sat beside me. She asked how I was managing to cope, given the neighbours I am stuck with on both sides of me. She and her hubby have lived there for a dozen years and have seen a lot. She noted she knew about the drug trade going on too and asked if the new tenants were also related or friends of the ones on the west side. That has been the pattern in the past. I said yes and told her about the three day drinking party this weekend, with all of them converged in the one backyard. Her read of the situation was the same as mine, I think. They were trying to find any means to harass me until I moved. It helped a lot to know that what had been going on this past couple of months was being observed and noted by someone else. I had felt really isolated and threatened up until she breached the subject. She said my youngest and I could call them any time we needed if it got too bad. I likely wouldn't, but it helps a lot to know there is someone nearby who won't need an explanation and who will believe what I have to say without needing proof. She's already seen a great deal. Her next comment helped evenmore. Did I know that the neighbours in the illegal suite appeared to have moved out last night? No. Well that is why she had started the conversation to begin with. She was looking for reassuance too that maybe things would get better on that side. I hope so too. Om mane padme hum.
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