Expectations
June 15, 2005
Tick, Tock
by Sarah Artis
Tick, tock. Two minutes gone by. Tick, tock. One hour and thirteen minutes until lunch. Tick, tock. Why doesn't that kid stop crying already? Tick, tock. Only three and three-quarter days until the weekend and thank god, I can stop pretending to like buttoning up polyester shirts, beige slacks, pastel cardigans and practical loafers. Tick tock. Read more.
Opposites Attract
Sometimes it's hard being married. Even though I try to accept my husband just as he is, little expectations tend to creep up in the back of my mind. He has no idea about my expectations of him; men need to think they are perfect and so I tell mine he is:
-Yes dear, you're so good at mowing the lawn. Our rows are much straighter than the neighbors.
-Wow, you're such a good driver. Somehow when I'm riding with you 97 miles per hour doesn't seem so dangerous.
-You look so handsome sitting on the sofa. It's a good thing you sit there a lot; I find you so desirable when you're slack-jawed in front of the tv. Read more.
Flawless
by Lisa Plantico Carlsson
But Lot's wife looked back, and she turned into a pillar of salt. --Genesis 19:26
She looks back, when life is going well. She looks back to a time best left
forgotten, and feels something shrivel within her as the tears begin to fall. Dry desert,
dusty plain; she weeps until she is empty, the scorching air robbing her tears of moisture
until there is nothing left but a salty residue. She turns for one last look. She will not turn again. Read more.
Living A Magical Life
by Nayna Chakrabarty
A strand of gray hair peeked amidst the lock of dark ones, playing hide-and-seek with my hairbrush. I was advised that I shouldn't pull it out. Read more.
It's Not Fair! (So What?)
It's Not Fair! (So What?)
There's a lot of worry over fairness in my house these days, mostly on the part of my eight-year-old daughter. It's not fair, she tells me, that her baby brother gets to stay up later than she does, that everyone she knows has a trampoline and she doesn't, or that her dad can buy himself a Coke whenever he likes while she gets to have one only if we say it's okay. I've noticed, too, that the expectation that everything be fair is not limited to kids. I've heard protests against the "unfairness" of everything ranging from minor issues such as having less to choose from at the lunch buffet than your friend did the day before to the Really Big Deals like cancer and horrific natural disasters. Read more.
Meets or Exceeds Expectations
As a teacher, I've found the word "expectations" has become one of those over-used buzzwords that has lost all meaning. Instead of rules, we have "classroom expectations." Instead of marking an amazing paper with wonderfully symmetrical A, we tick off a box that says "student exceeds expectations." A run-of-the-mill student "meets expectations," while a former F student no longer fails; instead, he "does not meet expectations." Read more.