allen

@thankfuck.studio

130 Followers 698 Following

i guess in descending order: people developer, web developer, game developer, writer, potter, fiend proprietor @ thank fuck ceramics sr. eng. mngr. @ NYT/wirecutter Detroit, MI

discu stu from the simpsons, pointing at a graph that shows disco record sales spiking. the bottom axis shows that it is only for the years from 1973-1977
It's 2002. I'm a student in Mr. Barbour's AP physics class. I'm bothering him during a free period and he knows I'm not doing well emotionally. Can read it on my body. We start talking about college, and I kind of maybe hint that I'm thinking about the military after school. What he and most other people didn't know was that my parents had lost everything in the previous two years. We lost our house, eventually. My family had never been to college to begin with and I knew that relying on them for financial support was not an option. So... I don't know. Air force. I will never, ever forget the moment Ted grabbed my shoulder and asked me what the hell I was talking about. "You can't go into the military," he insisted. "It would be such a waste of talent." I broke down in tears. Without saying anything more he stood up and pushed me out the door. He walked me down to the guidance counselor with his hand never leaving my shoulder. This, like, ambling mess of a teenager on a crash course through life, being escorted into the counselor's office by his physics teacher. He closed the door behind himself and said "We need to figure out financial aid for Allen." He stayed there with me for thirty minutes as my future slowly unclenched itself. I remember thinking in between the waves of shame something like "he... thinks I'm talented?" No one had ever cared for me so directly before. So insistently and intentionally. A searing ethic of care that has buoyed me through good times and bad, decades later. An infectious belief in people and their capabilities. How many beautiful lives has Ted had these moments with? People who never would have made it through without a moment of his caring guidance? How many of us may have never known how much we needed a consistent voice of compassion and challenge and resilience in our lives, in those early years of chaos... if it wasn't for his curious belief in us... in me. Who knows? A true hero in my life; and one hell of a teacher.