Sam+B’s+OpEd+Article



=__Disciplining the Disciplinarians__=

Foothill Tech, the shining high-school on a hill, is an institution praised for it's peaceful halls and accepting students. A school with minimal trash issues and rare seagull appearances. Students embrace their differences and have a hunger for knowledge hard to match in our region, and we strive. The students strive. No one would ever disrupt such a benevolent system of equal treatment, a unique paradigm of mutually friendly comfort, right?

Some men just want to watch the world burn. Unable to standby and appreciate a self-sufficient student body, certain members of our high-school's administration desire a sense of authority over such simple events as our hour of lunch. In a classic case of attempting to fix something that was never broken, Mr. Carlos Cohen Sr. forced his hand into the trivial task (previously taken on as personal responsibility) of disposing of my lunch's trash and as a result, he broke my heart.

It was an average Friday afternoon of this year's first semester when this tragedy unfurled. A friend and I hurried out of our 4th period classes and made the cross-town trip to Corrales, the location of a particularly delicious burrito of the highest, most authentic quality, well worth the above average expense. Time being constricted, the burritos were ordered to-go and we returned with little time to spare, brandishing the cherished bounty. Seeing as my acquisition had taken nearly the whole lunch, when the bell rang announcing the end of lunch I was not surprised to have ¾ of a burrito left to bring along to my class, or so I thought.

Queued by the bell, the lurking Carlos Cohen came forth to assert his very important authority over the very important task of supervising the few baggies and bottles' very important trip to the trash can. With 2 trash cans within reach from a seated position at our occupied table, this was of the least arduous activities we could find ourselves responsible for. 2 trash cans within reach deemed insufficient by our ardent supervision, another was pushed closer to us, creating a tight triangle of 3 trash cans around our table.

Generally pleased with his ability to tell teenagers who are cleaning up to clean up, a smug smile tracked each of our proceeding tosses until the last item to remain was the majority of my dearest decadent and over-priced Corrales burrito. Little did I know, the ever-lurking Carlos Cohen remained on the prowl.

Turning and bending over to pick my backpack up off the ground, my burrito left my gaze for a slight moment, a moment long enough for Cohen to pounce. Straightening up, I caught the site of my burrito being grabbed, to which I instantly let out a plea starting with “NO...” which developed, as it swung closer and closer, into a louder, most unnatural noise not concluded until the garbage reached and the damage done. My heart dropped to my toes and an entire lunch's worth of anticipation was cut short rudely, abruptly by Mr. Cohen.

Attention grabbed by my painful outbreak of sound, I murmured heart-brokenly, “I was still eating that...” to the ground, too shocked to yet face my assailant. What followed only intensified the trauma. From where the guilty stood, a new image emerged. Any guilt quickly slithered behind the signature veil of self-admiration standard from Mr. Cohen and in the next moment, I found myself being metaphorically slapped in the face, adding insult to the injury just endured. The barrage of words following this held no consideration of compensation, nor even the simplest of apologies. What I received was the profound rational to be //thanking// Mr. Carlos Cohen, for his wondrous deed of disposing my cherished meal, from his insightful words -- “Something might have gone bad in it; I probably saved you!”

I am still recovering.

Events like this would never go unaddressed in the student body. Between two equal individuals apologies would be made, compensation would even be a high probability but this scenario depicts a wrinkle in our school's outstanding equality. In this chain of events, Mr. Carlos Cohen took advantage of his position in our school's hierarchy and, treating me unfairly as an inferior, his pretentious trends now threaten the stability of our benevolent student body. This cannot be the only example of an unjustified event and our administration needs to be held accountable to a standard above the students. Students cannot be expected to abide by the instruction of disciplinarians when they are the ones lacking discipline.