Tuesday, December 20, 2005
vandalism sucks
over the weekend, some vandals took bricks from the design on the patio and used them to smash in the windows at the school where i teach. they broke 10 windows, which sounds like a lot, but looks like a whole heckuvalot more when you think how small our school actually is, and that there were about 2 windows broken in each room (kitchen, art, science lab, staff lounge, and entranceway). the only rooms that weren’t hit were mine and bio-kim’s. the weird thing is, the bricks were picked up from the patio RIGHT OUTSIDE my classroom. yet, my classroom remains untouched.
i ended up spending the majority of my sunday cleaning up broken glass and wiping down counters 20+ times just to discover that there was more glass dust, so right now we don’t trust the kitchen to produce any food for lunch.
and last night i had a dream (or more accurately, a nightmare, i suppose) thinking that someone would launch bricks into our classrooms while i have students in it.
the stupid thing is, it seems like it’s done outta pure spite. they left the laptop there, in plain view of the door which was broken so thoroughly that there was absolutely no glass left in it - the shards were all in a pile at the bottom of the door, right next to the music keyboard, etc. they weren’t looking to steal anything - it was simply pure vandalism.
it is very appalling to think that some people would get thrills off creating such a mess… that they’d think that whatever feelings they have towards ‘the grove’ justify their destructive actions. i wonder if they’ve thought about the cost to the school that they’ve incurred - not just the money for the new windows but the grief and agony they’ve put teachers, students, and parents through - plus all the labor that everyone put in to clean up the mess. there was a big donation box in front of the window full of children’s toys - rainbow brites, my little ponies, legos, bouncy balls, etc - and they’ll all have to be thrown away because all the little pieces of glass are there, and who knows how safe the toys are now. can you imagine if a small child sticks it in their mouth and there’s some broken glass in it?
so yah… even if their intention was not to take anything, they’ve robbed several children of Christmas gifts. they’ve robbed me (and a bunch of students, parents, and other staff) of my sunday. i wonder if that will sate their desires or if they’re planning on coming back for more. *sigh*