Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Not just Crooked Timber but Falling Wood

I just had to post something, because that picture of Bret Michaels was making even me queasy. Spent today getting estimates for the tree damage in my back yard. On the 4th this year our fireworks were preceded by storms and heavy rain and not one but two split trees in the back yard. So far, the cheapest offer is $750. Half my extra summer money for the month which, of course, was tagged for other needs. I always tell my students that that is the "oh, shit" moment. The one all societies have to account for. Time to attach some meaning.

Did I piss off my ancestors? Did my envious neighbors feel I needed to be reigned in from my self-centered ways? Had I stepped on the wrong bit of animal feces walking the dog and offended my group totem?

Let's go with Marx. Why the hell can't we college instructors band together, get some class consciousness, force some serious collective bargaining...wait, skip that...straight Marx...let's burn down the administration building and seize control. I need some collective labor in the back yard--profit free. Lots of it.

4 comments:

Tina said...

burn baby burn!

Anonymous said...

The TAs and contract faculty at my university (york, in canada)have been on strike for 12 weeks as of right now...we get maternity leave, health insurance...it is possible. But we fight hard for it, which is difficult because we make so little money in the first place.

Anonymous said...

Are contract faculty what we here in Texas call adjunct faculty?

Pamthropologist said...

I was thinking it might mean anyone who wasn't tenure-track at an institution that is tenure-granting--not like community colleges.