Teaching—a Cushy Job?

"Do you know why people become teachers? So that they can go home early, knock off at 5pm, lah!"

"You know what? They have long holidays some more! So good, leh!"

My mouth dropped open when I heard this on a bus ride home.

It came from a teenage boy who sat behind me.

He was talking to a female friend. Or rather, he appeared to be bragging about his "knowledge" and how well he knew of the teaching industry to the friend.

I am not a teacher, but I was shocked at his statement, because it certainly does not do justice to the teacher friends I know.

I don’t think any of them go home at 5pm. Even if they do, it probably means they have to drag a whole load of worksheets or books home to mark.

There is black sheep in any industry, including the industry responsible for molding the future of the new generation. I believe there are teachers who really go into teaching for the sake of the high pay, and they simply do the bare minimal (even if they do not admit it). But it not fair to think that all teachers think or act that way.

A teacher friend once said, "It is easy to be a teacher, but it’s not easy to be a good one."

When I heard the boy make such badly informed statements, I was really tempted to turn around and ask him, "What do you know about teaching?"

It is the same as telling an office clerk that he has a cushy job because all he does is sit in front of the computer, check emails and photocopy stuff.

It is also like saying a full time housewife leads an easy life, because she can watch television all day, play mahjong whenever she feels like it, go shopping if she is bored, and best of all, she does not need to answer to a boss.

I think any clerk or housewife will jump at anyone who says this.

But I can’t really blame the boy. One can never really understand the woes of another. Besides, students only see teachers at work when they are in class, and it is natural for them to think that teachers go off work when lessons end.

But I just do not like the teenager’s conceited tone.

Well, fortunately I did not do or say anything to the teenager, else I would have missed part two of his speech.

He went on to talk about living in HDB flats and condominiums.

"Next time I want to live in a condominium, I like the feeling of having neighbours who are also your friends."

His friend asked, "Can’t you make friends with HDB neighbours?"

"What I meant is to do things like swimming in the pool downstairs with your condo neighbours…anyway, it’s difficult to make friends with HDB people, lah. They don’t have this culture, they just keep to themselves. Condo different, leh. People mix around."

While I agree that nowadays, most HDB dwellers usually close their doors and hardly know their neighbours, I do not think the situation could be THAT different in a condominium. Either I am ill-informed, or such a friendly condominium truly exists.

Is it just this boy, or do teenagers these days think this way too?

I sure hope he is just one of a kind.