Who the hell are you JY?

I know what I look like. Sometimes I act out what strangers expect from me. They expect me to vote National, to hate the Maori Party, to believe in free trade, work in business, all that right-wing, white guy baloney (what the f**king hell is baloney, anyway?).


Last election I was tempted to vote for the Maori Party. I voted for the Greens instead. You understand that I didn't vote for them because I think they would make a good government all by themselves, but because I think that they are a good pressure group.

I am not involved in business. I am a teacher. Being a teacher where I work is pretty hard work really, but I fundamentally believe that what I do is important for society, and that I should do it as well as I can.

Here some of the things that happened today:

• Two students had a fist fight on the tennis courts at interval. I and another teacher had to physically intervene and try and pull them apart. Because they were large brown guys full of rage and we were skinny white guys we just sort of hung on to them until more big brown guys arrived and helped us pull them apart
• I had to yell at some students who simply refused on any level to do what I had asked them to do about ten times in varying tones of firmness or politeness. I mean really yell at someone. YELL. When was the last time you (who are not teachers) actually absolutely yelled at someone?
• A couple of students in my first class of the day seriously and intelligently debated the merits and drawbacks of affirmative action for Maori in New Zealand. It was a very interesting debate, one of those debates that challenge your views and make you really think about things.

All of these things were challenging for me. I wondered why it bothered me more that I yelled at someone instead of me being in the middle of a brawl, and I wondered about my values. I think this means I am going to talk about affirmative action.