choose your battles

This is probably the best advice my mom ever gave me. It came to mind twice recently.

1. John Tierney has a decent editorial in the NYT about why he's pro-choice and anti-Naral. The inflammatory ad against John Roberts is misleading and misguided. It's also the wrong battle to fight, in my opinion.

2. On Friday, I made my first Californian student cry. People who know me generally tell me that I'm a nice person. Too nice, even. But I have a knack for making at least one poor kid burst into tears in every school I've ever worked. Strange that they've all been boys. Anyway, this poor kid (I'll call him James) has the misfortune in being in a "difficult" class.

To make a long story short, I'd called his parents twice last week and haven't been able to get ahold of them (only left a message with an older brother that I'd called). Poor James was in tears at the end of Friday begging me not to call them again. "I was good!" he yelled at me. He desperately wants to play football and knows that his chances are waning every time I call his house. I went against my better judgment and struck a deal with him. I admit it, I want him to play football, too.