Summer All September

          So, I was supposed to start school on the 8th, almost two weeks ago. But my school and all the Catholic schools in my area are on strike. Seriously. So that means I get to sit on my butt all day with nothing to do and hope and pray this thing passes soon.
          From what I heard, the teacher's contracts are up and it's time to draw up and sign a new one. It basically stated that the teachers do more and work longer hours for less money, so that was one problem already. Then, because the economy is so bad, the teachers petitioned for a guarantee that they would have a job and wouldn't be fired without a valid reason, even if the school shuts down. The government (or whoever makes up these contracts, I don't really know) couldn't promise that and all this other stuff happened which eventually led to the teachers striking and me not having a school to go to.
           I never thought I would see the day when kids were actually upset about not going to school. Even if I wasn't happy about the strike, I still thought most people would be. But everyone I asked said that they hated it just as much as I did. Blew my mind. Some students even wanted to have an "anti-strike" to show how much we wanted to go back to school. My soccer coach is a teacher, and he said that the teachers don't even want to be on strike, but they feel like they have to.

          It's so funny. I've always imagined when teachers strike they get pick-it signs that say stuff like "We deserve RESPECT!" or, "Why is money more important than me?" I know, I should never write signs. Shut up. Anyway, I imagined them stomping around and waving their signs at people passing by. But no. Apparently that only happens in movies. At my school, the teachers wear bulky signs held up by rope on their shoulders, with one sign hanging down on one sign hanging down on their front and one hanging down on their back. Then they just stood around, sipping coffee and talking to each other. So I feel genuinely bad for them because that doesn't look fun at all.

                    The problem is that every day we don't go to school, days from our Christmas break and our summer vacation get taken away. So theoretically, there's a chance we'll be going to school in July. Maybe that's why everybody wants to go to school? Makes more sense than everybody wanting to learn. I'm probably just a nerd, but I don't care about going to school in the summer. I'm sitting on my butt doing nothing all day and all I want is to learn something. I'm even looking forward to doing homework.

          A lot of students are saying that they're going to transfer and go to public school soon if the strike doesn't end soon. This worries me a teeny tiny bit. All I can think of is a month from now the strike ends and we have half the student body we're supposed to. All my friends leave and there's nobody in my classes, and it's just a really awkward, terrible year. I, personally, am never going to transfer. My public school is terrible and I'm socially awkward, so I doubt my ability to make new friends. Hopefully school opens soon and I won't have to worry about that. But until then, I will sit and eat and waste time.