Family Friday, The Big Brother Edition

so i have an older brother - i mentioned that i recently found out that he has a blog. those who know me know that i rag on him, oh, like almost all the time. i won't start here, or i may run out of blog space. but lately, we have been talking quite a bit. he is a high school teacher - physics and chemistry and who knows what else - and classes started this week.

as long as i can remember (and i can remember long) my brother has been the nicest person i know. and i don't always say it in a complimentary way. also, he would give that cherry tree cutting dude a run for his money when it comes to honesty. couldn't lie to win his kids in a custody case - luckily for him, it is not something he has to worry about. but when you have folk rolling their eyes about how this guy just cannot even tell a "white" lie - no, you don't look fat in that dress; yes i think your hair looks good - you know you have a case on your hands. oh... he is also a compulsive truth-teller. unprompted. out it comes. not always endearing. but then again, never a lie. and always just so damn nice. which would you prefer?

and this super nice, honest guy, woke up one day and said - i want to be a teacher. so i said - oh, okay (because that is what you say, right?) and then next thing i know he is on some course and has quit his lab job and is starting at some school for "at risk children" and then he transferred to an "inner city" school. whatever label the group of kids was given, they were high school kids. teenagers. and, when i asked him about his day at work, there were quite a few badass kids up in there too. yeah, i know i went to an uber-strict boarding school (nicknamed the pink prison and not for nothing either), so what do i know about badass? going to the bathroom without permission impresses me.

but you talk to him and he loves his job. he plans rope tricks that will help the students with lateral thinking and topology. he calls their parents if a kid misbehaves. on that day. to say, hello, your kid misbehaved today. apparently the kids didn't believe him in the beginning, when he said he would. apparently they don't know about his whole honesty fetish. he offers make up classes to help some kids, who are just a little short, graduate. i sure hope that he doesn't burn out any time soon. i'm burnt out just thinking about it...