I just got back from Florida after spending several weeks of fun in the sun with my best friend Boca Harry. I have a pretty good tan and an extra fifteen pounds. It was a very pleasant diversion, but I'm now paying the price via a bad cold and a potential Weight Watchers membership. Ah, the stress of retirement. I went to almost every large city in Florida. Everywhere I went I ran into former teachers and even a few poor devils that are still working. Florida teachers make about half what we do at 22 years in. They also have to teach six classes and can be dismissed for any real or preceived infraction.
The retirees I met down there made me feel like I was back in the Bronx of 1965. They also made feel like a teenager, especially in Sarasota - where I didn't meet one person under eighty - G-d bless them all.
My last day in Boca, I met a teacher that told me Mulgrew is coming down next week to talk to them. I asked her how much Mulgrew was paying them to attend and she replied the retirees have to pay to see him! I nearly spit out my corned beef and rye. She said they expected a big turnout, as Mulgrew fights for each and everyone of them. At that point, I had become completely dumbfounded - like when I hear people say the the same thing about Trump. I studied her closely to see if she was pulling my leg, but alas she was serious. She asked me to make sure to remember to vote for Mulgrew and the Unity Party. That was really too much. That is how people snap. I got up, thanked her for the Mulgrew warning and got my ass back to freezing New York.
There should be a ban on retirees voting in elections. I know of no other union that allows it. It's ridiculous on a variety of levels. The non-Unity caucuses are barred from attaining the phone numbers and addresses of retirees, while Unity and Mulgrew directly targets them. Retirees are voting at a much higher percentage than active members - which means retirees have a huge impact. I don't have a problem with that per se, but there should be equitable recourse for the non-Unity parties. Unity by passes this issue because retirees aren't covered under the Taylor Law; therefore, the UFT/Unity doesn't have to share the retirees' information with the opposition. Where's the fairness, the democracy or ethics in that? Ah, well who ever said the UFT was democratic?
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Stories herein containing unnamed or invented characters are works of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.