If you've lived past the age of ten, there are some truths that you just know ARE by now. It doesn't matter whether they are fair or not. It doesn't matter if they are right or wrong. They are not matters of ethical debates. Possible moral dilemmas, but most probably within yourself as you try and live with what you know. Sounds cryptic, I know, so here goes the black and white of it.

We had a staff meeting this morning concerning student attendance, numbers, etc. You know, all that grant-determining people, uh, I mean, data business. Anyway, we were discussing attendance issues, and one of the instructors shared that a female student has been consistently late due to a date problem. No, not a day of the month, but the fact that she won't date her boss. He refuses to change her schedule or support her going to school for English in anyway unless she goes out with him.

One instructor blurted out something about making a report to the police because that was illegal. Our director pointed out that the STUDENT was ILLEGAL, so of course she wasn't going to tell any type of authority.

Fortunately, she was referred to an advocate who is helping her with this situation is a safe manner for her, but the point of this blog is to examine the truth, and this truth, while it is in no way news to me, slapped me hard in the face this morning. The whole reason she is coming to ESL classes is to learn enough English to take her citizenship exam, get a decent job, and contribute to her family and be a productive, contributing individual in this country. She wants to make a home here, not "just skip off with the profits" back to her homeland.

For this, I am sad. Par for the course, as some may say, as I have said, but sometimes when you put a face to the harsh reality, it's just a little harder to simply shrug your shoulders and say, "Oh well, that's just the price you pay."