Teachers really need hazard pay. They have proven to be essential workers and are severally underpaid.
In the last two decades being a teacher has gone beyond educating. Now teachers are therapists, triage workers and security guards.
And they most definitely deserve some major pay hikes. Why do supermodels who exert little to no energy get paid millions while teachers are struggling, sometimes working two to three jobs simultaneously?
We need to do better for our educators.
Redditor u/sweatyfeetarenice was hoping educators reading along would spill some tea with us by asking:
Teachers of reddit what was a "I don't get paid enough for this sh*t" moment for you?
Over the course of my life I have been blessed with many a great teacher. And I've seen several give up and walk away because they were stressed, overworked and underpaid. And that is an enormous loss to the children. Shout out to Ms. Allspaw...
Parents Suck
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"The actual teaching and working with young adults is very cool. The parents ruin everything. This year I have been forced to send screenshots of blank assignments from Google Classroom to parents because they believe their child over me."
"I had a lady insist that Google Classroom deleted her son's assignments. A global corporation had something against her 14 year old. She could not believe that maybe he did not do his work. Summer cannot start soon enough."
Lockdown
"Probably the active shooter training when we were told we would need to equip our classrooms with a "toilet bucket" in case we had to put our classrooms under an extended lockdown. We were also told that our district would not purchase the toilet buckets, so we would have to supply our own."
50 Minutes Late
"A student punched out another student. I called the Dean for assistance (as is protocol). No one showed up. The period ended. The injured party and the puncher were kept apart, but no one showed up from security, the Dean's office, administration or the nurse... and we had campus police too... no one showed up. 50 minutes."
- unhip1
She couldn't do 8 minutes...
"Being stabbed with scissors by a 4 year old. We had told the head teacher for a long time that this kid had issues and needed serious psych help (he had a horrific background which should have put him on the radar anyway). Head teacher said he simply needed breathing exercises and mindful techniques (I kid you not).We ended up having to photograph each other's injuries everyday. Blame was put on us - we weren't dealing with him appropriately etc etc."
"Eventually, during one of his moments (which happened daily), we called the head teacher. When she got there, we emptied all the other kids outside and left her to it (she insisted she could deal by herself). That afternoon, the child psychologists were called by the head! We took 8 months worth of daily assaults. She couldn't do 8 minutes."
The Take Home
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"I had a father yell at me because his daughter failed a take-home test and his stance was that it was perfect because he even had the mother double check the answers he wrote. It was a 3rd grade math test."
Oh see, no. I can't with kids today. Or even, young adults, or just students in general; so entitled and messy. And don't get me started on parents.
Nut Jobs
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"Lol, the wife is a teacher. She got told by one mom not to congratulate other kids on a job well done in the presence of her kid, as it made her kid feel bad not to be the best student. My wife put in notice because nut job mothers are ruining her mental health."
Just Stand
"I got paid 11$ an hour to teach piano (This was in 2007. This is unbearably low for the random hours you're given, impossibility of full-time, and having to do tons of lesson prep outside of teaching). I had a mother who would put her ear up against the door of the room, for the whole lesson."
"The SECOND I would show an example (if I say "try positioning your hand like this" and I'd play the line from the piece) the mom would open the door and say "This is my daughter's lesson, I want to hear less of you playing, thanks." And she would just freaking stand there!!! There was a secretary in the waiting room who I mentioned this to, and she says "she's paying for the lesson" and sided with the mom."
"Also... this daughter was on the 3rd book from a beginner/primer series. The mom signed her up for the Grade 3 conservatory exam, and only told me after the refund period was up. She says "well, my daughter IS taking this exam" and I tried to make the comparison... like a kid doing "beginner class 3 " of swimming taking a 3rd year diving exam or something. It just made ZERO SENSE and I don't know where she even found the information!!! Damn that was stressful!! And the pay!!! Not worth it."
Window Cleaners Share The Best Things They've Ever Seen | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
Nasty
"Pregnant teacher kicked on the belly. Kid I went to school with had serious issues and the teacher had the audacity to break up a fight with the teacher's aid and the kid. Kid said "don't telling me what to freaking do witch" and Sparta kicked her on her full term pregnant belly."
"The teacher and the baby were ok and healthy and was told that the kid was sent to a military school. When the teacher came back the whole school gave her so much love. We had a diaper drive for her and gave her probably a childhoods worth of diapers in various sizes, and Tons of cloths and gifts for mom and baby."
4th Period
"I teach high school math and, as many teachers do, had cafeteria duty periodically. Had a kid failing pretty bad in my 4th period (right after lunch) that hadn't come to class in 2 weeks. It wasn't too surprising, low SES school, student had home issues and really didn't care much for school as a whole. I had called home multiple times before and got no response so I stopped about midway through Q3 when I realized, and informed the parents via voicemail, that he had no shot of earning credit for the year with how badly he failed the first semester (21%)."
"In the last week of school, I saw him come into the cafeteria for the first time that quarter, hang out with his friends, play basketball, then leave towards the classrooms with everyone else. He took what I thought was the long route to my class and after 10 minutes of him not being in class I realized he wasn't going to make it."
"Marked him absent and went on with my day. His mom finally returned my calls later that day to assert that her child went to school today and therefore should be passing. Had to take a deep breath before telling her that there are students who come to class every day and still aren't passing, one day is just not enough, and further, he came into the building for lunch, played basketball, and left before 4th period started. She didn't like that very much and called the principal."
"Principal ended up backing me up but it went on all Summer as the superintendent had to get involved. All the while that she was fighting my grade, said student hadn't attended a single day of the Summer school class. I taught the Summer school class and he failed that too."
Scary Minutes
"I teach at an inner-city school for at-risk youth. We are basically the final stop before the student goes to prison. I love my job, I love teaching high school, and a lot of the kids are so unique and interesting. But some crap, I do not get paid enough to deal with. Myself and 3 others had to restrain a kid for 20 minutes while waiting for the police to arrive. In those 20 minutes, all of us were bitten at least twice, and that was really freaking scary."
"Most teens know that biting is a really crap move to pull, especially the street kids. I actually called him out on it at a later date when he tried to tell other kids that we were "forcing it" on him (Basically saying we were too rough) and that he was a total bada**. I mentioned to the class that he resorted to biting people and that shut him right up."
"I've had entire desks thrown at my head. I've had to restrain kids who have 100lbs on me while also being punched by the other kid involved in a fight. Again, I love my job and the people I work with, but some days just feel like the perfect storm of bull that get me wanting to just walk out the front doors and drive away."
- panda388
I Heard You
"I heard a parent on the phone literally talking crap about me as I am in a google meet teaching her kid and her kids class virtually. Her kid hadn't shown up to my class for 3 weeks, and I asked where she had been, nicely, was, which apparently the worst thing I could have done. I had to re-teach her the project we had been working on for 3 weeks, while simultaneously teaching the rest of the class, meanwhile her mom is trash talking me in the background. This was 3rd graders."
Over It!
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"I'm a Music Teacher that got forced into being the classroom teacher for Primary French Immersion because I have a French qualification, but haven't used it in years."
"Also, I was forced into teaching Distance Learning when the rest of my school was in-person. I still had to be at my school though, so they put me in an unheated, windowless office and shifted my schedule to not line up with the breaks at my school. I didn't even get students from my own school."
"This has resulted in me teaching all subjects by myself (half of which are supposed to be delivered on French) to a bunch of black boxes on a screen on an unheated office, and couldn't even interact with my colleagues at break times. I have never taught most of these subjects before (because I specialised in 2 subjects with the intention of being a rotary teacher for those subjects) so planning takes my entire evening every evening to make sure I'm ready for the next day. I have not been very successful at delivering the subjects that are meant to be taught in French, in French. I feel like I have let everyone down. I'm exhausted all the time. There are 3 weeks left, and I'm just so over it."
He's Evil Dear
"Not necessarily a teacher, but I did some tutoring work last year and went to a family friends house because the parents asked me to tutor their 16 year old son ( I was 17 ). Now I've never met this guy before but he's really big into video games, so obviously as soon as I come in he's in his computer playing league of legends. He was clearly in a ranked game because when his mom came to tell him to turn it off he started screaming at her and telling her he'd be finished soon."
"The mom apologises to me and goes and turns off the computer. He, and I kid you not, PUSHES her away and starts screaming at her. She's quite shocked so I'm guessing he's never done that before but he kept screaming at her, until I stupidly decided to butt in (bad idea) and tell him not to treat his mother like that. It was none of my business but I couldn't help it."
"Next thing you know his fist is coming right for my face, I fall and hit my head on the bed frame so now my head was bleeding. He stormed off to the bathroom after which his mother ran up to me and started apologizing and offering me money (which I gladly took because I needed money). Needless to say I never tutored that boy."
- DrCow69
Hey Eduardo!
"They wanted me to walk a 6'6" 18 year old gang member to and from his car every day so that he wouldn't get into fights with the other gang members at the school. I'm a 5'7" scrawny white girl. I told them I would ask Eduardo to pretty please not start fights on the school grounds. That was the best I could offer."
Life Basics
"Used to be a middle school teacher (male) only made it 3 years. I had a female student who was a bit socially awkward, but overall I nice kid. One day after class I was pushing in chairs and noticed a bunch of red on a chair. I thought nothing of it and wiped it all up with some Chlorox wipes. It happened again a few days later I put the pieces together. I scheduled a parent teacher conference with the mom, and the nurse."
"Mom said she didn't like wearing pads and isn't going to force her daughter to do so. Needless to say it happened a few more times and one of the male students caught on. He was cool about it, and kept it under wraps, but I was done with that crap. The other female teachers got involved and and worked with the student to make her understand the importance of feminine hygiene and it seemed to stick."
- LeKy411
No Wipers Here!
"I'm an elementary teacher and this didn't happen to me, but a colleague. There was a third grade boy who had severe emotional issues and would crap himself constantly to avoid work. The staff for the behavior unit he was in would often take him to the clinic bathroom and clean him up and dress him in new clothes. This kid did not have any intellectual or physical impairments that would make it appropriate to receive this kind of help."
"It took a new person being hired in one of the leadership roles within the unit to put the hammer down and call his mom every time he crapped himself. He told everyone to let the kid stay in his own filth until his mom came to handle it. It's unreal how anyone felt like wiping a freaking nine year old was within their pay range."
So Many Things
"After the Santa Fe school shooting we had a kid bring a gun on campus, thankfully he was caught before anything happened, one of his friends snitched on him. We still ended up on lock down. The solution to the incident was 'randomly' select teachers from each campus, district only had three, and put them through a Marshal program with Houston PD. Spent the summer doing that."
"They told the insurance which ones were Marshalled so we had to pay more due to being high risk. No bump in pay. & no clear answers on WTF I had to do if the situation happened again. Can't leave my kids alone in the room, but have to respond to an active shooter. Guns had to be in lock boxes while in the classroom with students, so if a shooter did come in I guess I was supposed to ask them to wait and let me get my piece? That and crappy parents."
HELP!!
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"Fights in back to back periods. All involving girls. First one I got taken to the ground breaking it up, second one my co-teacher was thrown over a table. Both times, there was no help for quite a while and no one to help maintain order afterwards."
Thanks Boss!
"When I got yelled at by the principal 15 minutes before school started. Parents were upset (even though I was being sure to do everything that had been addressed in the last meeting), and the principal decided to scream at me for them threatening to contact the district. These parents could not be pleased, and the principal has acknowledged that before, but suddenly it was all my fault for not doing what was agreed upon. That's when I knew I wouldn't be working for that principal ever again."
Bless y'all educators. I can't do it and I don't know how you do. I hope therapy is covered in your health plans. Or at least some discount coverage at the liquor stores. That's where I'd be living.
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When we're intoxicated, or even the slightest bit tipsy from having a little too much to drink, our immediate perspective on things is hazy.
But there's nothing like a bit of alarming news or a jarring incident to snap us out of the fog and focus on the moment.
Sometimes alcohol isn't always to blame for our impairment.
It can be a state of mind, like a perpetual numbness from being complacent in life, and all it takes is one shocking moment to rattle us back to our senses.
Curious to hear from strangers online about this type of scenario, Redditor Known_Challenge_7150 asked:
"What’s one thing that sobered you up real quick?"
These individuals were witness to shocking events that sobered them up right quick.
Bleeding Out
"Got out of a taxi and found a naked man profusely bleeding from his head crawling up the driveway in my condo. Called him an ambulance completely forgot I was absolutely wasted until 45 minutes later when I'd helped him translate and in to an amublance and stepped in my front door."
"Later a few days later learned he'd slipped in the tub and literally crawled out for help. Poor dude. He was fine but I genuinely thought he was going to die there."
– DongLaiCha
Tragic News
"At a bachelor party and we got a phone call that the groom’s father had suddenly passed."
– accountnameredacted
Bottom Of The Barrel
"I went to visit my parents back in July. I was homeless and deep into fentanyl addiction so I lost a lot of weight. My folks could see it. They knew something was up. Anyway, I spent the night and I was getting ready to leave in the morning and I looked at myself in the mirror for a good long time. I finally had enough and told them everything. They took me to detox, from there I went to rehab. Graduated in August and been living with them ever since then. I have 160 days clean and sober."
– Crotch-Monster
A reality check can be enough for some people to snap out of it.
Like Father, Like Son
"Was driving a drunk friend home, he had been on a bender again and was smart enough to call me for a lift rather than try and drive. As I helped in to his house his mother came down the stairs and said 'your as drunk as your father' and went back upstairs. I haven't seen him drunk since then, he still drinks but the thought of turning into his dad scared him out of hard drinking."
– psycospaz
Busted
"Flashing blue lights."
– FiddleOfGold
"This sobered me up just thinking about it."
– redmaple_syrup
Losing Sight
"Woke up to no sight in one eye. I had cataract surgery so just thought one of the lenses had slipped and it was an easy fix. Eye doc says nope, you had a stroke. I loved soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and salty food, which caused high blood pressure, which caused retina damage. Over six months was able to get most of my eyesight back with medication, and all back within a year. Trying to navigate life with one eye was very sobering. Started taking HBP much more seriously."
– MissHibernia
Quitting The Bottle
"Looked up someone I went to highschool with who was an awesome guy. Found out he had been dead for 3 years from alcoholism, at age 33. I made an overnight change. I hadn't started drinking that night yet, 10 months ago. Haven't touched it again since."
– omgtater
These disturbing moments were enough for Redditors to immediately come to their senses.
Unplanned House Guests
"Me and a buddy Woke up in someone’s living room, realized neither one of us knew the people, they were just nice and let 2 drunk guys sleep on their living room floor. We didn’t even say goodbye."
– Oneinsevenbillion75
Serious Health Warning
"Elevated liver enzymes."
"And the knowledge that this sh** was gonna kill me and I just couldn't orphan my family over it."
"So I opted for recovery, instead."
"Clean and sober since June 5, 2009."
– Far_Meal8674
The Joyride
"Grew up in a rural area. The little town hosted dances at the hockey arena, everyone (adults and kids) went and they overserved everyone, regardless of age. I was maybe 16 or 17 and was absolutely sh*tfaced, and jumped in the back of someone's truck with about 8 other people to go back to someone's cottage for after dance drinking. The driver (still don't know who it was) started racing one of his buddies and we whipped around small dirt roads, flying around blind corners on the wrong side of the road, going god knows how fast. It was basically a disaster waiting to happen. It was crazy scary and I was sober and thankful to be alive when we finally arrived."
– foxfood9116
The human psyche is a fascinating thing, isn't it?
How we can automatically focus on something urgent at a crucial time, even after getting buzzed from drinking too much alcohol.
But as we're in the thick of the holidays, it's a good reminder to drink responsibly and stay off the roads if you drive to your celebratory destination.
Cheers. Stay safe. And happy holidays.
We've all complained or vented about something in our lives which, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't exactly a problem, or is very easily solved.
Then there are those who complain about things that others almost hope will happen to them at some point in their lives.
These are known as "first world problems", as they are problems that pretty much only the world's one percent faces.
From having to fly business class instead of first class, or being served Roederer instead of Dom Pérignon, these complaints are often met with amusement, bewilderment, or even anger.
Redditor jennimackenzie was curious to hear the most absurd "first world problems" anyone ever complained about, leading them to ask:
"What’s the most ridiculous 'first world problem' you’ve seen people get worked up over?"
"Tale As Old As Time..."
"I once knew a mom who was legitimately devastated, to the point of tears/grief, because a doctor predicted her 8 year old daughter's final height to be around 5'2","
"Which wasn't tall enough to get cast as Belle at Disney World."
"That was the child's (and her mother's) only dream in life, apparently."
"Didn't appreciate my suggestion that she could be Minnie or Mickey."
"Lol!"
"Only a face character would do!"- TravelLovingMom
"Must Be Funny, In A Rich Man's World..."
"My boss from about a decade ago was this insanely rich dude who always went to the bank to get fresh and crisp currency."
"He'd call the bank in advance to make sure they had some on hand."
"I think he was a germaphobe."
"He had a trash can that he'd throw $1 and $5 bills in that he thought was 'dirty' and regularly just donated it vs spending it."
"I asked him why he did this and he said it was too much trouble and asked if I wanted it."
"I said f*ck yeah dumped it into my bag and when I got home it was close to $400 in singles and fives.
"Another time, he wanted to upgrade all the computers in his studio, so we went to a store and bought 10 PCs."
"They all had $150 mail in rebates and he wasn't bothered to go through the trouble of mailing them in."
"3 weeks later I received $1500 after spending a whole afternoon filling out all those goddamn forms."- azninvasion2000
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Who Wore It Better?
"When I was about 19 years old, I was at my boyfriends family BBQ."
"I was wearing this pretty floral sundress."
"His cousins girlfriend showed up in the same dress and she was SO mad that she went and changed."
"I will never understand being upset when someone is wearing the same thing as you.'
"Did you really think that your shirt you bought off the rack is going to be unique to you?"
"No."- mertsey627
Seeing Red! Or Blue In This Case...
"The blue of the balloons wasn't quite the same as the bridesmaid's sashes."
"Years ago my wife and I attended a wedding."
"It was very low key."
"The dinner was in the dining hall at the university where the couple met, cinder block walls and all."
"It was a Baptist wedding - no booze and very serious."
"The dark blue balloons attempting to liven up the hall were a slightly darker shade of blue than the sashes on the bridesmaid's dresses."
"The bride lost here sh*t and absolutely raved for nearly an hour."
"I can't remember how they finally managed to talk her down."- mechant_papa
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See You In Court!
"Rich neighbors who end up in expensive court battles because they disagree about where a tree can be planted or whether the color of a fence fits in with the street’s 'amenity'."
'These disputes get really heated and rack up huge lawyers’ bills."
"The most pathetic part is after the judgement when they are arguing about who should pay the other party’s costs."
"Lots of affidavits filed citing the 'emotional distress' they had to endure, or painting themselves as brave warriors who were forced to take a stand to fight for 'justice'."
"Also lots of pompous litigants insisting that the judge refer to them by their 'Dr' title."
"An absolutely insane dumpster fire of entitled rich people problems."- ElectrocRaisin
It's Always People With Money Who Don't Want To Pay!
"I work in a public library."
"People will get so so mad if they have to be put on a wait list for a book."
"A popular book that just came out."
"Ok our services are not only free but so are the books."
"You’re welcome, a**holes."- Switchbladekitten
A Warm Butt Is A Happy Butt!
"My own."
"We have a bidet toilet seat (Fabulous! Everyone should have one!) and not only does it wash your bum and blow dry it, but the seat's heated!"
"It's shocking how much a heated toilet seat makes the whole process more agreeable."
"Except: We had a power outage and I went to use the toilet and the seat was cold!"
"Unacceptable!"
"This shall not stand!"
"I was really upset because it didn't feel good."
"Then I stopped and thought: This is the most first-world problem anyone's ever had."
"I was really pissed because my heiny was tepid."
"I got over it."- DeathGrover
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Holy Matrimony!
"Weddings are a gold mine for this question."
"People get so hyped up over their 'most important day of their life'."
"They'll destroy friendships, go into debt, and have crazy expectations."
"It's not always the couple who go crazy, either."
"Sometimes, it's the parents or another family member who feels entitled to control the wedding."
"It's just a party."
"Be considerate of guests, have plenty of food and drinks, and enjoy it."- magicrowantree
When Fast Food Isn't Fast Enough...
"Having to pull off to the side to wait for a drive-thru order to be brought out to you because your food isn't ready and there's a line building up behind you."- demanbmore
In Case You Don't Think Customer Service Employees Are Undervalued...
"I was working the return desk at a Target next to a military base so I have so many stories."
"One of my favorites was a lady who had her baby shower before revealing the gender and was livid that she had received floral newborn diapers when she’s having a boy."
"It was a huge box of super expensive, all organic diapers, that we didn’t carry and therefore could not return."
"I cannot accurately express her fury and disgust."
"How dare either suggest her boy could wear feminine diapers."
"I suggested she donate them if she didn’t want to use them and she instead threw away the entire box."
"When she left we pulled it out and threw it in our donate bin."
"There have also been multiple times where mom’s order massive toys and when we bring them out to the car they get furious that they aren’t wrapped."
"We don’t offer wrapping services."
"Here’s the thing, if you don’t want your kids to see the toys you got them for Christmas or their bit to day DON'T BRING THE CHILD WHEN YOU PICK IT UP."
'I’ve had multiple women scream and curse me out that I had ruined their kids Christmas by bringing the toys they ordered out to the car like they requested."- clever-mermaid-mae
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Happiest Place On Earth!
"I used to work for Disney."
"That in itself should tell you everything."
"However for fun I'll give you two specific stories one form our tech department and one from my wife who worked bookings."
"I specifically worked for their call center to help with technical issues with magic band and the website."
"Suddenly got worse huh?"
"A right of passage call everyone has at least one story of is the 'Dome call'."
"Basically there is a subset of Disney Guest (TM) that believes if it rains at Walt Disney world there is someone that will push a button to encapsulate the whole of Disney property in a dome to keep out the rain."
"I'm not kidding."
"If this button is not pushed they call our tech department to angrily ask why."
"My wife worked booking."
"Pretty much everything including Bibbidi Bobbidi boutique and Pirate's league."
"These two things did roughly the same thing difference being price and theme."
"BBB was expensive did more and was focused on princesses, pirates league did a bit less and focused on mermaids and pirates."
"Lady called up my wife, and got pissed about BBB being booked up (It goes FAAAAST)."
"Karen: 'Im going to give the phone to my daughter and I want you to tell her how you are ruining her vacation by not letting her do BBB'."
"Wife proceeds to explain how pirate's league is so much cooler and how she can be a mermaid or pirate and basically gets the kid to start demanding to their parents about how they want to be a mermaid instead of a princess."- trollsong
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The horror!
Being booked into a junior suite at Disney World instead of an executive suite!
It's almost as bad as having no money for groceries, or no food to feed you children...
Said absolutely no one.