As many of you know, I spend most of my day teaching music to kids in a public school in New Jersey. The pay sucks, and where I am, the talent pool isn't the greatest, either. Today, I was reminded of one of the reasons I stay here in this low-paying district with students who don't practice.

During the course of today's annoucements, a voice (one which I could not recognize) had some words of encouragement for our teacher aides, who will be taking some major test in the near future. These words of encouragement ended with the following, AND I DO QUOTE:

We will all be thinking of you and saying an extra prayer. God Bless.

Does anyone reading this really see a problem here? I mean, come on, ACLU. Tell me this was inappropriate. If you do, I'll tell you you are full of shit.

I'm glad that this was said, and I will be taking a few moments after posting to say the aforementioned PRAYER here in my PUBLIC SCHOOL office, in front of the RELIGIOUS art calendar I got at my CHURCH (this month's painting depicts "The Adoration of the Magi"), and, in good CATHOLIC fashion, taking the SIGN OF THE CROSS both prior to and following said PRAYER.

Come on, ACLU. It's a free period for me now. I'm in a PUBLIC SCHOOL BUILDING and I'm PRAYING. Send in the SWAT team. Slap on the cuffs. Lock me up and throw away the key. All because I chose to pray for my colleagues' success. What an awful thing I have done.

Fartnozzles.

RWR