“Happy Endings,” “Obituary,” and “Oompah Loompah” Dialogue

When I was a little girl, I wanted to become a teacher when I grew up.  As ironic as it might sound, those were the expectations of almost every other kid I knew.  Throughout my schooling years, I’ve had some very good teachers, as well as, not so good ones.  Good or bad, I know I’ve learned valuable lessons from each and every one of them; but I could never help myself to wonder why some teachers seem to hate their jobs so much.  “Children should never question grownups”, this was something I always had in mind as a child. This was also the reason why I never dare to ask a teacher why they had become teachers, in the first place.  Now, fifteen years later, things have change.  We’re encouraged to question everything and everyone on our path, but my question is not the same as it was many years ago.  While in elementary school, I never understood why some teachers would yell at students to the point of embarrassing them in front of their classmates; perhaps, the reason behind all of their anger was not that they hated their professions, but the result of their retained frustration for not being able to plant the seed of knowledge in our heads.

Many of us, for not saying all, have taken attitude test with the purpose of providing some sort of guide dance that would lead us toward our true vocation.  Teaching is a tough profession, not everyone has what it takes; perhaps, that’s the case of Mr. Harvey from “Obituary” by Lois-Ann Kamanaka.  He probably had the firm purpose of helping children be well educated but somewhere along the road he lost his path, like many others teachers.  I recall making cry my English teacher when I was in 7^th grade.  Even though, I don’t remember his name or the reason why cried, I would never forget his face and the way he looked at me.  He was a bit chubby, and tall.  He reminded me of a retired wrestler; he had that tough look on his face and traces of long-lost muscles of a once fit man.  He was trying to make understand the importance of education and I simply laughed on his face.  After I saw the tears in his face, I realized those were tears of frustration, he truly love what he had prepared for so long to do; yet, there was this ignorant, show off teenager girl taking for granted all of his effort.  Now, looking back, I can assure you that’s a good enough reason to take anyone’s frustration out.  I don’t believe making your student feel inferior as Mr. Harvey does would help him get through his students, but I understand how the feeling of resentment, irritation and even failure are the one interfering with his ability of teaching.