Should students be friends with their teachers?

After reading Ms. Mentor's article, "Don't Teach So Close to Me", it had me thinking, should students and teachers really be friends, and vice versa?

I've realized that I've never been friends with any of my teachers. Yes, I have admired teachers, but I've never had any other kind except a friendly relationship inside the classroom.

The only thing close to having friendly relationships with my teachers is when I used to visit my old teachers. My favorite teacher was my 5th grade teacher, Dr. Nemeth. He was a really good teacher, and there is something about that class that I will never forget. Well besides having two best friends in that class, I find myself remembering things that happened in 5th grade, when I couldn't tell you anything about 6th through 8th grade. Every year after 5th grade, my friend and I would go and visit Dr. Nemeth at least once throughout the year.  It was fun to say hi and to see the class room and reminisce, but that was it.  It was interesting seeing him after middle school because he could never remember what grade we were in.  If anything, through the years it got more awkward because his memory was kinda going, or the fact he had too many students from his past.  The time I will remember the most is the last time was my junior year in high school, and my friend and I went to see him because he was retiring, and my brother actually got him as a teacher for 5th grade as well that year (the last year he was teaching!).  So it was really funny because he had no concept of time and thought we were really young still, and we were like no, we're juniors and we're driving!!  That really made him feel better... not.

So, as you can see I really haven't ever been friends with a teacher.  If anything I really don't like teachers (or certain teachers) knowing all my personal stuff.  I guess being friends with a teacher is okay, as long as it stays in the classroom.  I understand when teachers and students have the same interests or something, but I think they can just talk about it in the classroom still.  I also think it is the teacher's job to keep things professional and conduct themselves as adults and know where to draw the line. 

Facebook?

I was originally a Myspace user. I knew already that my cousin who was in college had a facebook and was deleting her myspace profile. But I still wasn't convinced. What could Facebook offer that topped what I already liked about Myspace. I liked that I could change my backgrounds and add videos and music to my profile. The main part was being able to communicate with my friends through writing on their walls or commenting on their pictures. Then one day one of my friends decided to get a Facebook, just when everyone else in my high school was seemingly creating a Facebook as well. All of a sudden I found myself being encouraged by friends to get one, so I finally did. At first it was just different than Myspace, and then for a while it seemed like everyone was using their Myspace pages and Facebook, now that was a big job to check each one everyday. Then slowly, everyone started posting on their Myspace how they were deleting their profiles. Everyone was switching over to Facebook. And I found myself doing the same thing. But why?

Well, there are a few reasons why I like Facebook better than Myspace. The big one I remember when making the switch was that on Facebook you have to put your actual name. It was so much easier to find people, whereas on Myspace you could put any name or symbols as your profile name. It was hard to find people.

I guess I like the way Facebook works. In a sense, it makes everyone the same because everyone's profiles look generally the same. It is no longer a competition to see who has the most "friends", and no one is ever hurt because they aren't in somebody's top 10 friends. I also like the applications Facebook offers because there is more to do besides talking to people. Lately, I've been checking out my myspace that I no longer use but haven't deleted, and I have found that I don't know how to use it anymore. I guess "old" Facebook users could say the same about the "new" Facebook. I've also found that certain things on Facebook have been brought over to Myspace, like clicking on the photo (in photo albums) to get to the next photo. That was a new thing Facebook had, and now Myspace has that as well. I guess Myspace and Facebook want to keep up with each other.

I still like Facebook better though. I guess times have changed for me. The only thing I like about Myspace now is how artists have their own pages.

Dilbert

Working retail is great... not!

So, ever work at a DSW? 

Hopefully the answer is no, but after being at college for a couple months, I find myself wondering if I want to go back and work over winter break. It seems like a hassle to me, because even though I've been working there for 2 years, they have to hire me back and go through that process again.  Wonder what manager they are on now? Hmm, the store has been open for 2 years and they are on their 4th or 5th, and I don't know if I want to deal with that again. Seems they find the rudest people on the planet who are two-faced.  But maybe that's what retail is all about.  Not like anyone ever says the $59.95 pair of shoes they are looking at are hideous!  Nope, everyone just says they are fine and kinda avoid the subject.

And, who wants to go back to the "friendly" environment where you are under extreme pressure to pretty much force the customers into signing up for a rewards account.  Yeah, the benefits are good and you get free coupons, but if the customer says no, why push?  

And then there's the great part at the end of the night, since they always give me closing shifts, of cleaning up the store, after all our wonderful customers have left and left behind each unwanted shoe on the ground, or under a bench. Or when the people who have gotten the day shifts don't clean anything all day because they know they aren't closing. 

It's a wonderful job.  Really.  I think the only reason I like it is because I can walk around looking at all the shoes and oh yeah, the 30% off is great.  

Oh, did I mention how wonderful our customers are?  Yeah, sure, some are nice, but others are just complete snobs.  Or what about those ones that don't get that when we turn off our awful music (I'll write about this later) and they see every employee cleaning, or maybe when one employee is standing by the door because it's locked and they need to let customers out, that means the store is closed.  And usually when those customers are left, they're just 'browsing'. 

Oh, and how about that one lady that comes in during DSW's really good sales when shoes can be as much as 70-80% off, and first of all comes in and returns 30 pairs of shoes that are all different sizes and were bought 6 months ago? Hmm... So she returns them and then buys out an entire style of one shoe, every size! And then when she comes to check out and is buying 30 more pairs, she asks our cashier (me) to get someone else to bag because she is in a hurry.... (to go sell her shoes on eBay...)

Ehh, so you can see the only reason I might go back to DSW this winter break will be for the 30% off. Nothing else.

Oh, and yeah, the music DSW exclusively plays is from some online radio station.  It's the same music all the time and the music is really bad: french music, rainforest noises, just horrible music.  I wish it was elevator music! It's that bad!  But then when customers tell you how bad it is, it makes you feel better to know you aren't alone.  It's when the customers say that they love it and want to know where they can get it, that's when you know there's something wrong!

So, is 30% off shoes worth it??