Thursday, October 11, 2007

Field Trip

Went on a field trip with Number One Son's class today, to the local art museum...
Right off the bat, the museum's children's curator just flat out rubbed me wrong. I really don't think she's a good fit for that particular position, given her attitude and impatience towards the kids, an attitude that seemed to have also worn off on her "junior docents", who were helping out.
The theme of the museum right now is prints - various styles and techniques were on display...
The curator informed us that "The first known print was made in India around 3,000 years Before the Common Era".
Excuse me? The "common era"? Common to what, exactly? And at what point does the count for this "common era" start? Around, oh, I don't know... AD 1? The birth of Christ?
What the hell is wrong with BC? Are there really people out there who just cannot handle knowing that our measurements of time originate from the date of this individuals birth? People that cannot even stand to say the guy's name without soiling themselves? Is it truly oppressive to acknowledge this, whether you accept his divinity or not? Is that so unreasonable?
A little while later, we were in another room and the curator asked all the kids to gather round and sit down on the floor. Some of the kids started to sit on a bench nearby, which was apparently not on. The curator checked that right away with, "No, no, everyone must sit on the ground. That way it's more egalitarian". I shit you not. Che Guevara, reincarnated as a dumpy, bespectacled middle aged white chick just panting to fill the kids' heads with the dialectic.
Maybe I'm overreacting, but this lady just got right on my tits today. Maybe what I'm hearing about the public school system lately isn't an exaggeration...
Crap, all I wanted to do was wander around and look at some nice pictures.

2 comments:

phlegmfatale said...

what a bitch!
Did she make the adults sit on the floor to get down on the kids' level, too?

Julie & Christian said...

LOL!!!! You know me, my 'sharp tongue' might have gotten the better of me...