Soliciting Guilt

It's only mid-July, and stores are already selling school supplies. Eep! I suppose I better get to it.

At few stores last week, I was solicited to donate supplies or money at the checkout for students in need. While I think this is a wonderful idea, and a cause close to my heart, I do not want to donate. At one store, I swear the lady at the checkout gave me a funny look like, "How could you be so cruel, woman? Just buy a $1 pack of pencils to add to the box!" It might have been my guilty imagination. I don't know.

I could have said, "Oh, I just spent $30 on basic supplies for my classroom at the teachers supply store. Please don't judge. Plenty of my paycheck goes to the children." I didn't, though. Sometimes I just like to be a normal person.

Perhaps donating that pack of pencils might have curtailed the lack of pencils students will have in my classroom. Unlikely, though. Las Vegas is huge, and I was technically in Henderson, which is miles and miles from where I teach. Of course, my magnet students are bussed around from everywhere. Naw. Still unlikely.

Will I end up buying that extra pack of pencils this year for the kids?  You betcha. I'll contribute to my  own cause. You'll find extra pencils--and paper, erasers, markers, colored pencils, stickers, glue, tape, staples, notebooks, folders--in my classroom closet.

Phew. Okay. I don't have to feel guilty for not helping the kids.