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So, this Sunday in Hebrew school, I did some teaching about Lashon Ha-Ra.

See, at the staff meeting (the one where I was dressed as Jayne Cobb), the topic of bullying came up. Now, there isn't a big bullying problem that I can see in the Hebrew school, mainly because we're only there for two-and-a half hours a week, and the kids are always under adult supervision. But a lot of kids have been having problems in their regular schools. And we were trying to talk about if there was anything we could do, as religious instructors, to help give kids tools to deal with this.

Now, the bullying that they're really having trouble with is the emotional kind -- teasing and the like. One kid in my class said that she'd lost all of her friends, because someone had spread lies about her. And the only person who she still had left as a friend was someone she didn't even LIKE that much, but it was the only person who'd still talk to her. And my point in the staff meeting was that Judaism teaches that this is really serious stuff -- but it doesn't really offer many solutions. I mean, you could argue that someone who really humiliates people should be stoned to death, but you can't actually DO that in the modern world. But the point that some other teachers made was that, if nothing else, being told that the reason this hurts so bad is because IT'S ACTUALLY GODDAMNED SERIOUS, and it's NOT a failing in them for feeling bad, since this IS actually that bad -- that, even if that was ALL we could do, that would have some value. Validating their feelings was important, and useful enough to do for that reason alone.
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Lis will be coming home in like ten hours!

I'm really excited. On the other hand, there's this list of things I was supposed to get done while she was gone, and I've got like only half of them done.

Just got back from voting

The only contested race in my district was for Alderman -- the person who represents your actual neighborhood in the City board.

I hadn't really figured out who I wanted to vote for for Alderman. But, as both candidates were standing right there, holding signs, I was able to go up to them and say, "Hey, I'm an undecided voter. Convince me to vote for you."

And one of them did. So I voted for him.

The polling place is in one of the senior housing complexes, right by the train tracks. As usual, a bunch of the residents were having a bake sale, so I bought a piece of cornbread (which actually was pretty bad, and I ended up throwing it out) and putting a dollar down on a raffle. On my way out, there was a gentleman sitting there named Arthur, and we happened to start talking. He's lived in Melrose for, like, eighty some odd years, is now living with his girlfriend in senior housing. Sixteen years in the Army; got out not that long after his father did -- his father was career, did 42 years in the service, retired at 65, and died of absolutely nothing three months after retirement. Arthur decided that HE wasn't going to do that, finished up his current term, and went to culinary school.

We chatted for probably close to half an hour, until I finally said that I had a week's worth of things to do before my wife came home tonight. He laughed and said that I was really in deep shit, then, and we shook hands and I came home and procrastinated further by posting this entry.

Lis is home!

She's just spent the past hour and a half telling me about SOME of the cool stuff she did.

And I now have a gallon of scrumpy. Who wants to help me drink it?

It's good to have my Lis back. And London sounds mega-cool.