Threads
by
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... The windows of Steiner's Deli glistened. A green and white striped awning kept the rays of the sun at bay. Inside, oak furniture and woodwork, linoleum floors and white-globed light fixtures reminded the visitor of another time.
Gill led the way to their favorite booth. She sank down on the aged oak bench and sighed. "Days one and two are gone; only one-hundred eighty-three to go."
"Counting the days already?"
"You bet."
"So, what's for lunch?" Lou said, scanning the menu. "Kosher corned beef on rye, heavy on the mustard."
"Liverwurst and onions for me."
"How can you stand that stuff?" asked Lou.
"Love it. So, what went on with Daniels?"
"Bottom line? I was told not to become involved in the personal lives of my students. My involvement is academic only. I get involved in any other way at my own risk."
Gill didn't respond at once. "You know, Lou, he's got a point. With all the pull among the ethnic and religious groups at Biggs, things can get awfully tense. I can see why Daniels wouldn't want the staff to get caught in that beehive."
"That philosophy was an easier fit in another time," said Lou.
"Easier for whom?" asked Gill.
"Do you remember the courses we took in the Foundations of America Education?"
Gill shook her head. "Do I!"
"Then you recall that community leaders sat on school boards and ruled according to the culture of the time. Children of politicans and other influential people were catered to. Factory workers and laborers lacked power, so their concerns were ignored. Teachers were instructed to avoid "social" contact and conversation, and counseling of any kind. There were no unions then. If teachers violated those rules they were fired."
"I get it, Lou, and your point is?"
"Today, unions make it difficult to dismiss teachers, but boards of education continue to work with administrators and community leaders. There's a quid pro quo, you give me this and I'll give you that ..." Lou paused.
"...And the game goes on," said Gill. "The ethnic and religious groups in the city pressure Board President Daniels and his buddies to make consessions for the Irish, or the Scotch-Irish, the Poles, or Jews, Christians or Muslims..."
"And in return Daniels gets those groups to agree to support the Rehabilitation Project," said Lou.
"Quid pro quo twenty-first century style," concluded Gill.
"So what do we do?" asked Lou.
Gill threw her hands in the air and shrugged her shoulders. "Same thing we've always done, old girl. Watch the kids, and hope to God we don't get our asses in a grinder in the process."
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About the Book
From the beginning they were refugees: Jews, Christians, Muslims, children of Europe and the Middle East. They packed bags bound for freedom hoping that safety, opportunity, and future generations of tolerance would be their American legacy ... or was their journey to be a mere transplant from a place they had known to yet another bit of troubled earth, and would their children cling to the old or embrace the new.
About the Author
Virginia Ward was raised and educated in Catholicism. She has been a teacher and administrator in Catholic, Jewish and public schools. She worked in Bible school summer programs and spent many years working with at-risk, handicapped, and incarcerated youth.
These experiences introduced her to a wide cross section of religiously affiliated people and organizations, including those from the Islamic community. As a member of professional and civic boards and committees, Ms. Ward also became aware that politics often becomes not an agent for sound judgement but for personal gain. It was this background that prompted her to write Threads.
Among the author's other works are Aching Heard-Burning Soul: Surviving Catholicism, a nonfiction study of dogma and practice, and Kitchen Table Tales, a family memoir.