Disappointed by society

I had another post I was planning to write, but after everything that has happened today I felt the need to write something else, and save what I was planning for tomorrow. Society has failed today on several levels and I'm in a rather foul mood.

Fail # 1: Money stolen at work.

Correction, a lot of money stolen at work. What makes it even worse, it that they stole from the kids. Second grade students brought in four dollars each to pay for an ice cream party and craft supplies. The money was put in two different drawers and only the classroom teachers knew who had it. They took the cash, left a check and the envelope. Kindergarten students brought in up to six dollars for Chick-Fil-A and craft supplies. Their money was hidden in a drawer, under paperwork, behind a box. The library money was stolen from a hidden cash box in the back of a cabinet. In all, four classrooms were broken into and money we had collected for end of year parties has all been taken-checks left behind. It was absolutely heartbreaking this morning. What are we going to tell the kids? How are we going to pay for everything? I don't know which is worse-if it was all stolen by a kid or one of the night custodians. It's a no-win situation and we have no idea how we are going to pay for everything. The students at our school do not come from affluent neighborhoods and over half of the school is on free/reduced lunch. Many of our parents have saved up in order to be able to send in the four dollar. We can't ask the parents to send in money again, I can't afford to pay for all of my students because the state government took back 5% of our paychecks this month (which is another rant for another day), and we are utterly screwed. School was consumed by an emotional dark cloud today and the stormy weather outside was an appropriate view for how we were all feeling.

Fail #2-California upholding the ruling on Prop. 8

As if having someone steal the money for parties wasn't bad enough, coming home and reading online that California has failed us all did not help. I do not live in California. I am not married. It still affects me. I do however live in the only state in the south that hasn't passed an anti-LGBT, anti-marriage constitutional amendment despite repeated attempts. As Prop. 8 has been unfolding my state has again been in the battle as to sign/or not sign an amendment. It's bad enough that we have to constantly fight for rights, it's an entirely different story when rights are given and then taken away. For those of you who are in committed relationships, I urge you to protect yourselves and the ones you love. State approval is not required, but some serious work is. There is a website (and book) called The Gay Marriage Alternative that gives a lot of information on how to create the same (if not more) rights than selective state-approved gay marriages. [stepping on my soapbox] Does it suck that California failed us? Yes. Does it mean we get all pissed, say it's not fair and demand people explain how who I love threatens them? Yes. Do we sit back and wait for state and federal laws to catch up with common sense? No. It's time our community educates and protects themselves, rather than sit back and wait for legislation to pass. Sorry if this post has become preachy, but it kills me when our community suddenly lets society dictate our lives. Do I believe that one day there will not be "regular marriage" and "gay marriage" but just "marriage" in the United States? Yes. One day. However we as a community have created our own lives, our own rules, our own structures of what a family is based upon being true to ourselves. Don't let politics stop us just because they control titles-we have ways of getting around the system. And really, isn't that what we've been doing to live our lives authentically? [stepping down...at least temporarily]