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IRONWOOD
WELCOMES ALL!
Comments
X.X. writes: "SNAKE" is one of the, if not the, most dedicated employees I have met in
my 18 year career in this school district and 4 years with another district.
To be honest, when I first met him in the hallway I was more than a bit
concerned. His appearance was somewhat menacing. A long haired, bearded,
leather jacketed, black booted biker standing over 6 feet tall and weighing
over 250 pounds. At least that's how I felt taking a stand between him
and my students. I asked him if I could help him or show him to our school
office. I was taken aback by his reply! He told me he knew where our office
was located, but if I knew anything about boiler work he could use some
help! His "attitude" didn't sit well with me at all. I still
didn't know who this man was nor why he was in our school. I suspected
the teacher(Mrs. P) standing by her door across the hallway, grinning from
ear to ear, knew something about this man. As I crossed the hallway she
burst into laughter. Boy, did I feel left out. I thought she was laughing
at how I handled or failed to handle what I considered a very serious situation.
She had been in this school for several years and knew exactly who the
menacing mystery man was. "You haven't met Bill before?", Mrs.
P asked, after finally being able to control her hysteria. She told me
Bill was a member of the district's maintenance department and had recently
been promoted to the Director's position. I could not believe it. At the
other district I had worked, all the maintenance technicians were "clean-cut"
and wore uniforms. Mrs. P told me Bill was at our school to get "that
old" boiler running. She told me he could fix anything. They must
be related, I thought to myself. The Technicians where I had worked were
all Specialists. There were Electricians, Plumbers, Carpenters, Painters
and Heating and Air Conditioning Technicians. We sure could use a couple
of those ("clean-cut", uniformed) Heating Technicians this morning,
I told Mrs. P. Bill will get it going she told me. I wouldn't trade Bill
for 4 or 5 of those so-called technicians, he is a specialist in everything
he does. You do have to get to know him though. He is who he is. Nothing
phoney about him. Mrs P. went on to say, "Like Flip Wilson says, 'What
you see is what you get, Honey.'." As I entered my classroom I heard
that old familiar gurgling and banging of the radiators as the warm water
made it's journey through the old radiators on the wall and back to "that
old" boiler where Bill was, I suppose. I sat at my desk thinking about
what Mrs P. had said and I wondered, "Who the heck is Flip Wilson?"
I have gotten to know Bill or "SNAKE", if you will, pretty well through the years. He told me about the "Regime",
as he called them, "blocking" one of his websites. A dirty deed
I think. One of his expressions Mrs. P. told me about was, "The Truth
Hurts & If the Truth Hurts, that's Tough!" He is a Man of Honesty.
I guess the Truth Did Hurt! Something that I was amazed by through the
years, is Bill's intelligence. This man is a true Genius. Everyone who
knew or knows him, will tell you he can do anything. I came to this same
conclusion. My husband has asked Bill for help on several occasions. Bill
never turned away from a person in need of help. My husband admires and
envies Bill's knowledge, skills and abilities. Bill just calls it "experience".
My husband and I both know there is a lot more than "experience"
involved when Bill is working and "talking to himself", as he
does. There was a mixture of common sense, intelligence and analytical
thinking spiced with humor(subtle, warped and off-the-wall). This combination
of qualities seems to be rare in our educational system. He told me, on
more than one occasion, that "At the end of a Hell of a lot of days,
the most intelligent conversation I have all day is with myself or my dog
or both".
The reason I wrote is I have just returned from Mrs P.'s funeral and was
remembering how much she had helped me when I came to this district. I'll
never forget her infectious laugh and smile, especially the first time
I met Bill. I found out later, they weren't related. Recently I've heard
a rumor that Bill may be retiring after 30 years in our district. I, for
one, will miss him. Flip Wilson and Mrs P. were both right. What You see
is What You Get and I wouldn't swap Bill for All those "clean-cut,
uniformed" technicians! Please, put this on one of your sites. I'm
sure you'll know who it's from. As you told me in the past, you DO have
a memory like a computer and my story probably hit the correct buttons!
Thanks for the "HEAT" and GOOD LUCK, whatever you decide to do! X.X.
This one damn near "choked up" this "old graybeard"
(Rarely Happens!).
What can I say, but "THANKS!" and I do know Who You are!
SNAKE |
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