The Last Full Measure  − 30 May, 2008

And so it begins.

I'm calling it "The Last Full Measure." Nearly four years ago, I changed careers, and became a middle school science teacher.  This next week will be my last week -- at my first school.

Things have to change anyway.  In 2004, it wasn't a problem having a 23 mile commute to work each morning.  Now, with the phantom menace -- oop, excuse me, the great gas crisis -- it looks like the smug smartalecks of the world can finally tell us all to stop driving and take public transport.

Fine, except for one fact:

This country has spent the last 80 years destroying public transport.  And even if there was a good system in town, it's doubtful that it would support the nearby rural communities.

I can't exactly take the train to work in the morning, because there isn't one.  There are rail lines, but they mainly carry coal to the power plants.  I can't take the bus, because there isn't one: we're talking a rural county in north central Florida, here, not Manhattan.  To me, a lot of the "solutions" I hear fall into the "Let them eat cake" category.

Next bit of useless advice: move closer to my job.  Fine, except my wife has been working at an office in Gainesville -- one of us would always have to commute anyway.

So here's what this means: if you're working at a rural school and commuting, forget about it.  No one cares.  I guess they'll just tell everyone in the county to pack up and move to Gainesville.  Maybe not in so many words; maybe just by making their lives there impossible.

But there is a bit of fortune: we're already moving.  Long before they came up with the most recent crisis, we were already planning on moving to a highly congested and pricey area of the country . . . where, in theory, we can both find jobs within walking distance of our location-to-be-determined house. So we'll join the privileged few that can survive in the American twilight.  As for the rest of the country . . . no one seems to speak up for them.  The rich get richer, the poor get poorer, as always, next verse just like the first.

The most galling thing is that everyone knew this was coming.  The 1970s were a hint.  My wife and I took Amtrak for our honeymoon back in 1995; even back then, it was but an anemic shadow of the railway systems in other countries, poorly supported and inefficiently run.

So here we go, on one of my last 23 mile commutes.  (Hopefully.)

e07 is the road out of my neighborhood.  We've enjoyed living here, and it's quite a find -- I know the new owners of our house will love it here.

e09 is Parker Road.  In Florida, it's mostly flat land -- you're living on one huge sandbar.  Parker Road is a long straightaway, running parallel to some high voltage power lines.

e13 is The Dump, source of a lot of aggravation.  I generally arrive at work with 45 minutes to spare; slow driving dump trucks and [school] buses are one of the main reasons.

e17 is Bronson Motor Speedway.  Most people don't even notice they've passed through Bronson -- there's only one stoplight -- but if you say "Near that racetrack on the way to Cedar Key", they get it.

e21 is the Bronson water tower. Like I said, the land for miles around is flat, making this one of the obvious landmarks and points of reference.  Up until a few months ago, it was marked with some graffiti -- they finally repainted it.

And finally, e22, e23, and e24 are photos of my first school.  My room is the farthest to the right, on the corner of the building in e22. I've enjoyed teaching at Bronson Middle High School, and the thing I'll miss the most is the students.  Having taught sixth grade science there since 2004, I know every student up until the 9th grade.  There are some that have amazed me, others that have inspired me, and still others that I can look back and see that I've made a huge difference in their lives.

I wonder what the future holds for them.  I feel like I'm shutting the book only halfway through the novel.

Nevertheless, the plot has changed, and the future isn't what it used to be.

Comments:

peahayes (May 31, 2008. 02:54pm)

A good slice of "Life in America", isn't it? Gas prices; lack of public transport; difficulty of staying rooted (we no longer work our entire lives with one employer), etc.

bmccosar (May 31, 2008. 03:20pm)

It's the same thing as our health insurance crisis -- "let them eat cake" = let them open personal medical savings accounts. Sort of assumes a disposable income and the ability to save up tens of thousands of dollars per year.