I am my own worst critic. I always question whether I am really making a difference in the things I do or write, and then something happens that tells me, "Stop being such an idiot."
Something really nice happened yesterday that reminded me how stupid I can be.
I did substitute teaching yesterday. For whatever reason, two of the classes were a little rough to deal with. Nothing violent or truly out of hand, just teenagers pushing back because they are teenagers. For some reason, it irked me.
When I go out to lunch, I sometimes go to a high-end grocery store chain for sushi. As I was walking around the store, I was greeted with a huge hug from this young guy who worked there. It was Emmett, a student who graduated from our school last year.
He is a transgender male with whom I had a reserved but pleasant relationship for the two years I knew him. One day, last spring, he seemed a little distressed. He had a job interview later that day, and he was afraid he was going to blow it. I have had a lot of experience with job interviews, so I was able to calm him down and give him tips. We also talked about employee benefits because many companies have generous transgender healthcare insurance programs. He said he would also ask about that in the interview.
He was all smiles and said he was ready to go.
I didn't teach for the rest of the school year, so I never knew how he did.
Well, he got the job!
After the hug, he had to get back to work, but he said he looked forward to seeing me in the store again. He also said he was going to do a presentation at the school about his job. He told me they had a great transgender program.
I left the store with a smile on my face, and my stupid internal critic shut up for the rest of the day.
