Having expectations on the YBR. Are you crazy?

Expectation is the root of all heartache – Wm. Shakespeare.

A young kid is brought into a room that is waist high in manure.  The kid doesn’t hesitate to dive in…wildly with great expectations.  When asked what the hell he was doing, the kid replied, “With all this shit there has to be a pony somewhere.”

Even though I’m no longer a kid, I’m still covered with shit because I still believe that I’m going to find that elusive pony.

Now into my 17th year as an adjunct at my alma mater, I am late to the dance because it wasn’t until very recently that I learned that having expectations is living on the edge of a very slippery slope.  One of the quotes on expectations goes like this: when you have expectations, you are setting yourself up for disappointment.

Holy shit!  What the hell have I been doing for 17 years?  I start off each semester with great expectations on the good ship called Learning. Somewhere along the journey I begin to see ice bergs looming ahead.  I look over at the side of the vessel and see that the real name of the ship is the Titanic.

I have a confession to make.  I am not cut from the same cloth as your typical college professor.  I am not an academic. I am a seeker. I have been seeking to find and put meaning into my life…all my life…because I believe a life without meaning is not a life at all.

While I might not have prospered in the financial sense of the word, I have prospered abundantly in so many other ways.  I can say this because I am so very curious.  My curiosity is the sail that catches the winds of destiny. My curiosity is what keeps the eternal 10-year old in me alive.

In class I don’t have the expectations expected in a college classroom.  Attendance?  You come to class because you want to come to class. Participation?  There has to be a burning desire inside you.  Grades?  In a flash you’ll forget all about your grades and how much you really didn’t deserve that A.

If it isn’t too late in my teaching career, I need to change one thing.  I have to replace the word “expectation” with the word “hope.”  You might be setting yourself up for disappointment if you have expectations, but hope keeps you floating.  I don’t believe you can ever be disappointed if you have hope.

With that said, I “hope” that my students will realize before they are too old to enjoy life and come to realize that what matters most is not your job title, what kind of car you drive, where you live, or how much money you have…what matters can be found in the lyrics of a simple song:

If you reach for the stars all you get are the stars
but if you reach for the heavens
 you get the stars thrown in
Anything can happen if you let it. Life is out there waiting
so go and get it. Grab it by the collar. Seize it by the scruff.
Once you’ve started living life you just can’t get enough
Sally forth and the obstacles start disappearing.
Go and chase your dreams. You won’t regret it
Anything can happen if you have hope in your heart.

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Are the dems a little dumb? It’s really not debatable. Too bad.

Because most politicians leave a bad taste in my mouth, I’m going to turn the microphone over to the Scarecrow for his thoughts on the current Democratic presidential race for the White House.

“My head might be filled with straw, but after following the Dems on the debate stage I’d have to admit I could do a better job than the Dems left in the race.

“Bottom line, the Dems in the race have one thing in common. They want to beat Trump in November. You know that adage about shooting yourself in the foot? Well, that’s what I think the Dems in the race are doing…and they are doing a great job.

“Debate-after-debate they are acting like children (my apologies to the children in the world who could do a better job). Now that Bloomberg is in the race the other Dems in the race decided to bring out the heavy artillery to blow the former mayor off the stage.

“What in the world are they doing? Bidden is attacked by Warren. Warren is given a gut punch by Sanders. In turn Buttigieg slams Sanders, who in turn is castigated by Klobuchar.

“Do they really think they are doing the Democratic Party a favor by throwing one punch after another at each other? Don’t they know that in the end the Dems will nominate a loser because that’s what they are calling each other. And to make the whole ridiculous situation more ridiculous, after ONE of the Dems in the race is given the nomination nod, they will get the full support of the people who told us that the nominee is an idiot.

“Why can’t the Dems grow up and try something new. Instead of finding serious faults with the other candidates, why can’t one of them say something like this:

I’m not here to find fault with my fellow nominees.  It serves no purpose to tell you why you shouldn’t nominate my fellow challengers. In fact it hurts our party.  Instead, my purpose going forward is to just tell you what I hope to do as the party’s nominee for president.

Understand I want YOU to determine why I am the right candidate based on what I say I want to do.  I want to be asked tough questions and I want to restrict my answers to where I stand on the issue at hand. I don’t want to say that my opponents are wrong. That’s where you come in. I don’t want to resort to character assassination to make you believe in me and my candidacy. I want to leave Milwaukee with support, not division.

But what do I know. I’m only the scarecrow in the room. All I can say to the Dems in the race is if you want to beat Trump, stop beating each other up on the debate stage.

 

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