Bodies

A day of such foul weather that a genuinely civilized society would not have required you to get out of bed, mainly so as to avoid meeting other people who look like you feel. 

And teachers are so heavy. I now at least partly understand this; I think weight is added to counteract the spiralling lightheadedness of caffeine upon caffeine. Also we need to plump out (balding is also popular) to distinguish ourselves from our lithe charges, to be of zero sex appeal and therefore at zero risk. Ugly = Safe. 

Sometimes a day like this is enough to knock you off your game. This is sort of what happened today. The romance, the anti-romance of the shabby class and the insane dwarfed child running in uninvited to smack somebody midway through the lesson - today this has just given me a headache. Positivism bleeds out like acid from a knackered battery. 

I'm sure it's just a blip. 

In fact there is no blip. There's been a really nice, worn, government-funded enthusiasm all round if i'm to be completely honest. On a day where the weather could really get its fingers into your brain there's been a complicity, a buoyancy you would scarcely believe. There have been pockets of joy all over and humans coming up against one another rehearsing decency and respect. Teachers are fucking excellent people! Kids are excellent!  How do they come in every day and do this!

This blog hasn't been about anything. Well done if you got this far. 

Two images to finish. 

For me the most enduring image from Slumdog Millionaire is of the two young boys, retreated to their little tunnel after their Mum gets whacked, their little girl friend stood outside a long time in the pouring rain waiting to be invited in. 

I saw a couple of East Midlands youths today walking home from school, bedraggled and not at all dressed for the weather, laughing and oblivious to what i was making such a meal over.

There's something sleek about the human body which should be impermeable to rain, but we know we are vulnerable. Children do not get this.