Day in the Life of an Idiot

 
Image: My long-haired son and his short-haired best friend, waving at a colleague in Rice Park. They have their backs turned so it looks like they are saying goodbye to the past, or possibly "hello" to the future beyond their parents'/the camera's eye.

Last night was Mason's graduation from Washington Technical High School. 

I will admit that, other than cheering for my son and his friends, I fully expected to be bored out of my MIND. Instead, we had some lovely moments last night, not the least of which was being reminded of JUST HOW DIVERSE Mason's school is. I think the best example is that the students all handed the (student) readers a slip with their name on it--how they wanted it read--because so many students have the kinds of names where they might go by Victor Yi at school but Yi Xue-Gang at home. They might want to be Victor Yi or Yi Victor or... their name might be the only word that grandma will understand tonight so they want it to be said in the full "at home" way. 

My son also had this option, though, which is super cool. Everyone is listed in the program by their legal name, so at first we were like, "Are they not going in alphabetical... oh. Of course!" Because several of a sort wanted first name last or last name, depending.  

It also says something that no one pranked this, at all. No one had the reader read "Bobby McFarts A Lot" or anything like that. Everyone understood that this was just what you do. And that was just quietly cool as f*ck, you know?

Plus, the student body voted for the teacher speaker.... and picked the straight-up Communist, who used his speech to promote all forms of collective bargaining, and shouted out the Line 3 water protects, Black Lives Matter, #StopAsian Hate, and Stonewall all in one godd*mn AMAZING speech, that brought me to the "This is the America I wish were true," kind of tears.

The student speakers included one bubbly student who had no problem with public speaking at the Roy Wilkens Auditorium and Mai Sun who we automatically loved because we remembered Mason telling us stories of when they had classes together and both of them thinking the other had been called when the teacher said their name.... who, poor Mai Sun, was kind of blown away by the fact that they didn't dim the lights, so she could see EVERYBODY and it was possibly the most sincerely adorable speech (somehow with singing???) that I haver ever seen. 

We also had a School Board member who spoke indirectly (but not subtly) the language of Black Lives Matter, while also breaking down into tears over the loss of her colleague to COVID.

Heckuva a day!