4 ms·

I remember being constantly told by authority figures both individually and in a group setting that we would never be able to handle the Real World. The scary

I remember being constantly told by authority figures both individually and in a group setting that we would never be able to handle the Real World. The scary distant Real World turned out to be much easier to handle than the artificial one behind the walls of the schoolyard. And to wit, by all objective measures, I ended up "handling" the Real World far better than any of the people who told me I wouldn't.

saagarjha 6y ago
I tuned out to those the moment I got to middle school and realized that I did not have to write all my assignments in pen, use cursive, or risk having my assignment shredded if I forgot to put my name on it.
- mywittyname 6y ago
  Being an authoritarian asshole is probably a coping mechanism for teachers who struggle to navigate the same hellscape the students must. Teachers aren't immune from the school yard popularity contest: the charismatic teachers seem to have a much easier life than the rest.
  - toomanybeersies 6y ago
    I found it was usually older teachers who were authoritarian luddites. I don't think it was a coping mechanism, I just think that's how they genuinely thought the "real world" still works, as they had been teaching for 40 years and had no idea what non-teaching jobs and university were actually like.
irrational 6y ago
Those who can do, those who can’t teach* Maybe those who teach secondary school do so because they have difficulty handling the real world. * I both work as a full time developer at a fortune 100 company and teach a few sections of a college level programming class each semester. So I don’t know what this says about me.
- flycaliguy 6y ago
  Oh please. How is being a teacher not a role in the real world? You don’t have kids, you don’t realize that the real world loops back around again.
  - irrational 6y ago
    I actually have 7 kids. What made you think I don’t have any kids?
toomanybeersies 6y ago
Those were probably the same teachers that told you that you wouldn't always have a calculator in your pocket.

saagarjha 6y ago

I tuned out to those the moment I got to middle school and realized that I did not have to write all my assignments in pen, use cursive, or risk having my assignment shredded if I forgot to put my name on it.

mywittyname 6y ago
Being an authoritarian asshole is probably a coping mechanism for teachers who struggle to navigate the same hellscape the students must. Teachers aren't immune from the school yard popularity contest: the charismatic teachers seem to have a much easier life than the rest.
- toomanybeersies 6y ago
  I found it was usually older teachers who were authoritarian luddites. I don't think it was a coping mechanism, I just think that's how they genuinely thought the "real world" still works, as they had been teaching for 40 years and had no idea what non-teaching jobs and university were actually like.

irrational 6y ago

Those who can do, those who can’t teach* Maybe those who teach secondary school do so because they have difficulty handling the real world. * I both work as a full time developer at a fortune 100 company and teach a few sections of a college level programming class each semester. So I don’t know what this says about me.

flycaliguy 6y ago
Oh please. How is being a teacher not a role in the real world? You don’t have kids, you don’t realize that the real world loops back around again.
- irrational 6y ago
  I actually have 7 kids. What made you think I don’t have any kids?

toomanybeersies 6y ago

Those were probably the same teachers that told you that you wouldn't always have a calculator in your pocket.