Wind up workin' in a gas station

JayHecht at aol.com JayHecht at aol.com
Sun Feb 21 17:58:40 PST 1999


In a message dated 1/28/99 10:53:13 AM Central Standard Time, cgrimes at tsoft.com writes:

<< It is a fucking nightmare of bullshit. Once you get

to class you are faced, usually with some asshole who gives you very

little or next to nothing. If you ask questions, you are usually

dismissed as an idiot, or told that it is your job to find out the

answer. You stumble along and guess at what you can't figure out and

feel relieved if you get a C. Nothing else happens. You go nowhere.

>> Chuck,

I've been re-reading this post from days back.

I teach 2 night courses to folks who are trying to get BAs just to keep their office jobs. They shuffle in at 6:30 and are dogged tired and strain to stay awake to 9 pm. My job is to try to break down the bullshit surrounding banking and finance. The text is the usual re-hash of "deficits are bad," but has a good section on how the banking system works and how banks generate profits. When people are tired, their critical faculties can only sustain so much. Humor is essential for keeping people interested when you're going through the details of banking income statements and balance sheets - but I try to remind them of Bob Vesco's "follow the money" line.

I have tremendous respect for each and every one of my students. I NEVER send them away without making sure (as best I can) that they have a basic grasp of what the hell I'm going on about. Most of these people are VERY critical about the inequalities at their jobs and in the economy. Most are suspicious about corporate America, if not outright contemptuous. The problem is that they feel utterly disaffected and powerless to change things.

Jason



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