Committed or Compliant?

 

 

How does one feel

To be treated as a yo-yo?

“Come,” and you come,

“Go,” and you go.

 

Little or no respect

Is being given to teachers,

Many of whom are being treated

Like robotic creatures.

 

Very committed they are

Or perhaps compliant,

Contrary to popular opinion

They are very reliant.

 

Having sat and planned

At one particular school,

They were suddenly moved

Like silly little fools.

 

And not just teachers

But principals also,

Having planned with their staff

They too had to go.

 

A glaring mark of disrespect

If ever there was one,

Tell me, my fellow Barbadian citizens

Where has mutual respect gone?

 

The high-ups and big-ups

Daily demand respect

But when it’s they turn to give,

They are negatively set.

 

For them that is stooping

To their subordinates

And they most surely detest such

With irreconcilable hate.

 

Not even an apology,

At least, I didn’t hear any,

Some may consider it laughable

But to me it isn’t funny.

 

Had this happened to me

I would have felt very small,

It seems to me that teachers

Have no value at all.

 

One union was silent

And that was strange to me,

However, I’ll say no more on that

Since I like being free.

 

 

 

No marches or protests,

Just a meek surrendering

To the unfeeling despots in authority

And their whimsical ruling.

 

Just a few days before

A so-called victory was wrought

And just a few days after

Teachers were distraught.

 

Dare I stand up

And like a good soldier acquit?

With a mortgage to pay and more

I could lose my pick.

 

For unions they are

But in union with the boss

And there is not much to gain

But quite a lot to be lost.

 

Stewart Russell © October 2, 2023