When love calls, you better answer... fool!

Today my friend Thomas from North Carolina was in town and after church and brunch, we were headed home and became caught up in a very combative discussion. I really thought about this topic and I already know that what I am going to share is not a commonly held belief and that many readers will not agree but I am going to say this…

Sometimes, when it comes to love, you really do have to settle!

So many single people emphasize that they will not settle for less than their desired expectations. Whether its education, career, or appearance, many of my single friends simply will not accept love from anything less than the ideal.

I believe that the ideal is simply that… ideal. It does not exist in reality.

When I think about love and the loves that matter the most, they were not choices that I made or great catches that I sought out. I did not pick my mother, my sister, or many of my friends. The loves that came to me were happenstance. And I do not love my mother less for not having a college degree or my friends less for not having ideal careers. Consequently, I would not love a lover any less for a deficiency in either of the above areas.

Some key points from the conversation:
If love calls, answer.
It may not be love at first sight, but it may be the love that is right for you. And finally, who are any of us to question the gifts God may place in our lives?

So what are your thoughts on this? If you have a minute, go ahead and let me have it…

School ain't gone help none!

Oh my God! Today, I meet a real-life version of Mary Jones, the mother of Precious from Sapphire’s noted novel Push. It’s just that in this case, Precious is an underachieving sixteen year old male who is currently failing my class.

I have never in my life had a parent conference like this. She screamed at me, insulted me, and called me names. And all of this because her child made the choice to not complete course assignments.

The poor child has a very low average in my class and the cause of the low score is six zeros for unattempted work.

I don’t care about a student’s grades. That is not my concern or something I should be concerned about. I care about a student learning. If a student learns, their grade reflects that learning. However, in this child’s case, as seen in the very low average, learning has not occurred.

As I am sitting in the conference, I could not help but think:
Why are you having a conference with a week left in the semester?
Why did you act like I have not been calling you all semester to discuss the child’s very low average?

This Conjure (love you, Purveyor) had me sitting in that meeting feeling like Ms. Weiss (Mariah Carey’s character from Precious).

And you know you lying about that welfare!

I don’t think I can legally go into great detail (oh, I swear my education director reads my blog) but know that this Conjure gave me a headache and it is still lingering… although this glass of Marker’s Mark is making me feel slightly better…

My thoughts on the next mayor of Atlanta...

The battle to be the next mayor of Atlanta has the city and the kids in an uproar. It has me in an uproar.

I do not live within the city limits of Atlanta. I actually live six miles outside of Atlanta proper in a house located in Dekalb county that will never sale. I cannot vote for mayor so my opinion does not matter but the election results will have far reaching effects on me and everyone who calls Atlanta (proper or metro) home.

At first I thought the idea of Mary Norwood as mayor was promising. I agree with a number of voters that the idea of Atlanta’s first white mayor getting elected in over forty years is refreshing. The election of President Obama proved that race is not a pressing issue when voters are given a qualified candidate. The problem with Mary Norwood is that she is not qualified.

A great article appeared in last week’s Creative Loafing. Read it at http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/our_pick_for_mayor_kasim_reed/Content?oid=1115613 .

Kasim Reed has worked hard to build connections within the city and state that will prove exponentially beneficial to all within and around Atlanta.