Okay, I get what you're saying... by the way, being Canadian, I haven't got a clue what Chick-fil-A is or who any of these people are (other than based on what I've read here). I just think if this COO wants to offer his opinions on same-sex marriage, it should be because he has thought about, discussed and opened his minds to all aspects of the argument and can not support gay marriage because he truly feels he has arrived at a reasoned conclusion...not just because "it's his opinion and he's allowed to have one"... that's not enough.

Yes, as a teacher of high school philosophy, I think that we have taken the idea of "free speech" to places it was never meant to go. One of the hardest things to teach my students is that "That's my opinion, so it's not wrong"... is not a valid argument for anything. We have to stop hiding behind the cloak of "free speech" and start better open discussions about contentious issues so that we can arrive at well-reasoned, well-considered attempts at solution.

Where is the "like" button? :)

The idea that learning is not always "fun" is something that someone needs to let higher ups know in Canada's education system at the moment.

Well said. This is my exact philosophy. As said a few times, I teach high school, am an English major, and used to teach English until I wormed my way out of a department that forced us to teach certain books to classes (I hated teaching Tom Sawyer as much as the grade 11s hated being taught it). English teachers hate some classics too (I can't stand Portrait of an Artist), and while there are teachers as Wil described, I agree with the above comments, that good English teachers are not presenting symbolism and such as the end all and be all, but as the possibilities to be found in literature. Some students find literature pointless, until they recognize that they CAN search for meaning in it. And any good teacher will allow their students to realize that there are many different interpretations and ideas in literature. There is no "right" way to read anything.

Here's the thing though...(again, from a high school teacher, who is also an English major)... Tolkien once said the same thing (sort of) when people asked him about the impact of WWI on Lord of the Rings. But the reality is, I don't think that you can read Lord of the Rings and not think that WWI must have had an impact on his writing. Despite being a huge fan, I think he was fooling himself in suggesting that it didn't impact his work.

Not to mention, thirty seconds before seeing Juliet he's ready to kill himself over Rosaline. As a high school teacher myself, I don't see much difference in 14 year old girls and boys today. :)

Just yesterday my one and a half year old wore his ThinkGeek "Soylent Green Is Me" shirt. The one person who got it said "That is both and awesome and disturbing."

Giggle.

I realize it has been largely all said here, but since you took flack for it, let me add my voice to the list of people who see nothing wrong with what you said, and agree with you wholeheartedly. As a high school teacher, I am constantly amazed at the sense of entitlement that some young people have. Is it worse today? Maybe, I'm not sure, but it is certainly out there. I am constantly at war with students who think they can skip the work, but somehow still deserve an A.

Sorry but best ever goes to the Anakin/ObiWan lightsaber battle on Mustafar... light up lava and blue something in the background, lots of saber humming AND voices.... for some reason Ewan McGregor makes my dogs go nuts.

Just thought you'd like to know that Hilights at the dentist are somewhat international... a staple here in Canada too... I can smell the dentists office just thinking about it.

I was the biggest fan of the A-Team when I was in Grade 6, and so was a boy in my class named Jeff Kaufmann. We used to volunteer for lunch time library duty every day and no one understood why we gave up our time. Little did they know that we went down to the library and spent all our time rehashing that week's A-Team episodes. We used to use the library cart as the van, and give each other rides. Sadly, Jeff moved away that year and I never saw him again. I also loved Knight Rider and once had a dream that I worked with Michael Knight. After that I always tried to find ways to write myself into the show.

Commented below... but I actually missed the show and had to record it because I was at a NKOTB concert. I come home to watch the ep... at Brian's growling my husband turns to me and says "You've got to be kidding" as I double over in laughter.

So it was a weird cross over night for me. I yelled to my husband as I was leaving my house "Tape Family Guy" (which I rarely watch). He said "Why?" and I said "'Cause Wil says so!". And where was I going? To a New Kids on the Block concert (laugh all you want). Then I come home and watch and get TNG and a New Kids reference all in one (glad someone above caught it as well). I thought it was awesome... but also wanted more.

Thanks for the explanations... I was wondering about your sudden love for steak sauce... (fingers crossed Americans have HP sauce).

Your description of the ball park... the sunlight, the sounds... took me right down memory lane. Beautiful writing Wil. I played from 9 to 11... softball; a co-ed team. I sucked, but it was awesome, and I loved every minute. Your description though, brought back memories of playing at the ball park with my sister while my Dad played for his work team. Thanks.

Well, the nice thing about Star Wars figures was they made all the different stormtroopers..... Mom would say "Didn't I all ready buy that one?" and I'd say, "No Mom, you bought the BIKER SCOUT, this is the HOTH STORMTROOPER." Living in Canada I got to do this a lot, but it never worked out so well. I would invariably lose someone in a snow bank, and have to wait until spring to get him back. My dog once chewed the leg off a stormtrooper, but that was okay, he just got shot a lot.

Evil Wil is "looking" at not-evil Wil....

So, I wrote the other day how a co-worker had given me her old locker pinups of you. I stuck them up on the bulletin board by my desk. I didn't think much about it until I discovered yesterday that a staff member had told another staff member that they thought it was inappropriate for a high school teacher to have pictures of "young men" on her desk.

I will use the tshirt to seque my funny story of the week... I wore my Wil has a Posse shirt to my staff Christmas party in December, and a staff member a few years younger than me asked me about it. She told me that she was a big fan of Stand By Me back in the day and had pinups of you kicking around her house. I told her about your blog and writing career. The first Monday back to school she visited my classroom and told me that she wanted to give me a Christmas present. She opened an envelop and pulled out three of your pinups from good old BOP magazine. I was laughing hysterically, as I hung them on the blackboard. The class looked at us like we were aliens. A few of them had seen Stand By Me when I stopped laughing long enough to explain who you were.

I'm thinking that you should take a second look at the 200+ demands for your presence in Toronto Wil. That's one hell of a pick up team! (You're guaranteed that at least 98% of us know how to play!) Hooray for the girl players. I played with boys on my own dime late evenings in high school. My Mom refused to allow me to play in a girls league. At 34 I dust off the skates once a year to play in my staff-student hockey game at school. Love it!

One of your best stories and the videos are nice. I had an official carry case, not the 3PO one, but the one with pics form Empire on the cover. I saved my pennies and looked at it at our local variety store for weeks. It currently holds all the knock off guys I've found at yardsales over the years that I'll let my nieces and nephews play with. This Christmas all my nephews received Star Wars figures and I watched them play with such jealousy and happiness, because I'm probably one of the only adults in the room who understands the amazing worlds that they are creating. I also had an amazing conversation with a 6 year old who could not believe that I knew the name of his Star Wars guy and proudly took me to his room to show me the rest of his collection. I invited him to come and see mine and as I described it there was this amazing look of awe and respect in his eyes. It was a connection that I will not soon forget.

Seriously made my day.

Seriously made my day.