Ungrateful

Classwork time:  Your assignment:  Define "ungrateful".

For those of you who are either lacking in imagination, have a literal-minded streak, or tend towards the smarty-pants side of life….I have already looked up the classic dictionary entry for the word.

un·grate·ful   (n-grtfl)
adj.

1. Not feeling or exhibiting gratitude, thanks, or appreciation.
2. Not agreeable or pleasant; repellent: “I will not perform the ungrateful task of comparing cases of failure” (Abraham Lincoln).

Sorry folks – you’re gonna have to do your own thinking on this one.  (Don’t feel offended – I do this to my students, too – lol)

I find myself having issues with this word.  Are there degrees of ungratefulness?  Or is all ingratitude equally repulsive….

If, by now you are reading this and going huh?  What set THIS off?! OR you are saying – OH – Ms. Wolf is having issues with her students!  … you’d be wrong.

This is teacher appreciation week.  Appreciate your teachers.  Teachers, upon receiving said appreciation will be grateful.  EVERYONE appreciates!  Administrators appreciate, parents appreciate, students appreciate.  At least, that’s how they sell the idea.

• I did not feel very grateful on Monday when each and every one of us got a kelly green cheap, leaking soft-side lunch box with the school’s name on it.  I have 20 or so of these things and have yet to use the first one.
• I did not feel very grateful on Tuesday when our present was 1/2 muffin each – with orange juice, of course.
• I did not feel very grateful on Tuesday when my name was drawn for a door prize and I won a cardboard note box and uber-tacky dollar store reject pencil cup.
• I DID feel grateful this morning when they had a wonderful goddess of omelette making fixing up omelette’s to order before school.

One out of four ain’t bad, huh?  There’s till tomorrow and Friday to go.  I’ll miss Friday and that’s OK because that’s the day the principal cooks lunch for the faculty.  (Translation:  He runs around and makes a nuisance of himself, sqwaks and flaps…..Ms. Wolf cooks and gets it on the table….Principal rolls in self-proclaimed glory and feels good about himself.  Ms. Wolf cleans up mess.)  Guess what – this year he’ll actually have to do it himself!  OK – not really.  I am leaving 4-5 of my best students to work with him.  I don’t know what treat they have in store for us on Thrusday….but I’m not feeling overly optimistic.

All right – now that I sound like the most self-centered, ungrateful, small, mean person there is…. time to explain myself.

• You want to show me appreciation? 

• Pay me a living wage.
• Give me a hug or a handshake accompanied by a sincere "Thank You".
• Send me a hand-written PERSONAL note.

BUT PLEASE DON’T

• Pass off your dollar-store-reject items as tokens of esteem.
• ALMOST feed me.
• Present me with which ever item the bulk goods merchandiser has on sale this week.
• Ignore the hard work, long hourse, blood, sweat and tears I put into my job every single day.

So – if ungrateful means not appreciating tokens of appreciation that are poorly thought out at best – color me ungrateful.  If ungrageful means not feeling thrilled about half a muffin for breakfast – well then, there I am – in the ungrateful line.  Why should I be grateful for ANYthing sent my way?  Am I not allowed to pick and choose what things I am truly grateful for?  And yet, I somehow the grinch WAAAAY back in my head….says – "You are a snob!  How could you be so selfish?!  At least they did SOMEthing for you!  At least you WON a prinze!  You are an ungrateful wretch!"

And I try to remember that the glass truly is half full.  Because I hate labels….and I don’t want to wear the UNGRATEFUL WRETCH label at all.  It doesn’t match my shoes, after all. 

Am I really so off-base?  I would rather have a sincere THANK YOU than half a muffin.  I would rather have a hug than a lunch box.  And I would rather be paid a living wage than almost anything…..