Obviously I am a big Steelers fan, but...

Two Steelers-related things are on my mind, and not in a good way, I am afraid.

First, my kid's school (as well as the city schools and others, I am sure) is on a two-hour delay Monday. Found this out last evening. Why? Well, because of the Steelers game. It may have to do with administrators' concern that kids will have stayed up late and thus be too tired to learn anything. A few parents said they heard it was because bus drivers might be hungover. One or two suggested that it might be for the teachers and parents as well.

Here are my thoughts on that matter:

The game should be over around 10. My guess is that the majority of the kids who will stay up to watch the game don't go to bed much earlier than that anyway. And for those who normally go to bed earlier? They probably will be okay staying up a little later for one night. If not, then parents should not let them stay up for it. Jordan certainly won't be up past halftime, mostly because she does not care enough about the game.
If it is true that there is concern about hungover bus drivers, maybe those people should not have their jobs. For the love of Pete, you are responsible for the lives of kids. You would risk that by coming to work drunk or badly hungover? When the Steelers were in SB XXX in 1995, I was a teacher. I went to a party the night of, acted responsible, and managed to get up, drive the 30 minutes to my job, and arrive by 8 a.m. And I was single and childless then. Another single and childless (non-Steeler) SB year, I was not my most responsible self the night of, but I went in to work late the next day and felt not the best, knowing I could do both (i.e., I had the time and flexibility to take off and I was responsible for commas and periods, not people).
If you are a parent who is responsible to get your kid up for school and particularly to take them to school, then you have to consider that the night before. If you plan on overimbibing, then I suggest you pay a sitter or ask a relative or friend to help out the next day. As a parent, there was no way I was going to throw down a half dozen drinks during the previous SBs; I knew I had a preschooler (SB XL) and a kindergartner (SB XLIII) to worry about the next day. It is called being a responsible parent.
And what about the parents who don't get to be late for their jobs? What are they supposed to do? It is challenging enough to scramble during a two-hour delay for weather. I can't imagine having an hourly job and telling my boss I was going to be late because my kid had a two-hour Steeler delay.
In general, I am just disappointed that the kids are going to miss out on two hours of learning for football (they don't have to make up two-hour delays). What does this say about our priorities?

The other Steelers-related thing on my mind concerns some kids at City High who were suspended for wearing Steelers-specific attire to school, against the dress code. You can read the details here.

Here are my thoughts on that matter:

The students should have respected the "corporate casual "dress code, which, according to the principal, would have included wearing black and gold, just not jerseys. Rules are rules, and this school is not a "regular" public school to begin with; it is a charter school.
The students admitted that they were donning Steelers attire as a senior prank. Surely they were expecting consequences for pulling a prank.
The only thing I don't fully support is the suspension. I have no problem with their being punished in some way, but, obviously, I am not a fan of kids' missing school. One kid even said he was happy they did not have school on Monday as a result of the suspension. Not good.

So what are your thoughts? Am I being too uptight? Looking on the bright side (because I am trying to come up with optimistic thoughts, remember), at least the kids should, in theory, be safe come Monday thanks to the delay. And I will get to sleep in. And as for the kids who got in trouble for their Steelers gear, hopefully they will learn a lesson.

Still, go Steelers!

Why do they stand up there and say that when they are just lying?

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Anonymous said…

Facie- am surprised more people did not comment on this. Here is my $.02. Sure a delay is kinda stupid, but it is cool how the city embraces the team and all. And you know how some people are very irresponsible and wound think nothing of driving hungover so.

As for the students suspended it kind of flies in the face of the city embracing the team and there are so many other bad things kids do that warrant punishment. But learn a lesson? That I kind of doubt.

February 8, 2011 at 9:18 AM

Facie said…

Anon, good points.

February 9, 2011 at 1:08 PM

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