A pebble in my shoe

Is it possible to make a statement/comment expressing satisfaction in one's personal lifestyle without offending someone? If someone were to state, "I'm so glad I'm straight," would that be offensive to gay people? (Or vice versa?) Maybe overly sensitive ones who doubt whether or not they are right... I don't know. Just pondering these things. Personally, if someone were to state "I'm so glad to be gay," I wouldn't take offense and attack the statement; I would probably just wonder what happened in this person's life to make him think that way. Since I don't agree with that lifestyle, and I believe it is a choice (there is plenty of "evidence" for both sides of the argument, so I don't want anyone starting on me here because this is not the point)--a bad choice, nonetheless-- I will think those things but I will not assume that the person is judging straight people's lifestyles because he said he is happy with his own lifestyle. The same can be said about parenting styles. There are so many different schools of thought on parenting, and the right one is the one that works for each individual parent and child, no matter what all the books and grandparents say. I believe my way is the best way for my family, but that doesn't mean that I judge or think anyone else's way is necessarily bad. Admittedly, there are parenting practices that I don't agree with and some that make me downright angry, but in the end, it's not my life and all I can do is think and blog about it. If that offends people, they have a right to not read my thoughts and click on over to another web page. Isn't free speech great? That's why people who attack each other on the internet via comments irritate me (how many news features do I read that have--between spam-- comments from people calling each other names just for having conflicting opinions?). There is a big difference between ad hominems and civil discussion. Last night, Paul and I were talking about education. He problem-solves by arguing, which doesn't always suit my style (especially when he doesn't actually have a point--makes the discussion seem fruitless), but we had an interesting back-and-forth on what the problem with education is as well as how to solve it. For anyone wondering, we got nowhere, but we did conclude that if an easy solution can be achieved, it would have already been done. He thinks Obama's idea to prolong the school year is a good one, while I tend to mostly agree with what I read here, and to add to it, what ever happened to quality over quantity? If we want to keep our kids in school longer, we need to increase the quality of the time they spend there, which means better facilities, more opportunities, and, dare I say it, more qualified and engaged teachers. Teach for America and alternate certification programs have their place, yes, but would we need them if teaching was a better-paying more respectable job? We compare our education system (mainly by test scores) to those of other countries and we pale in comparison. Why? Because something isn't working. Because our society's attitude toward education is apathetic, at best. Teaching is a second-class job, a job for, as the (irksome) saying goes, "those who can't do." Why would a highly qualified mathematician or scientist want to teach when he can make a lot more money and earn much more respect working at a big engineering firm? There are far too many bad teachers who took their jobs because it was the easiest job to get, because they couldn't find another job, because it seemed like a good idea at the time... and not enough good teachers who are in their field for the love of learning, imparting knowledge, and of making a difference in the lives of young people.

Now the pebble has been shaken loose and joins all the other rocks on the road.