Tagged with United States …

Too Much of a Gentleman

Here I am in 1976. I was 13 years old and in the eighth grade. From ages 9 to 12 I had been somewhat vaguely aware of the Watergate scandal, not because it was interesting (the long summer of the Watergate hearings made for very boring television), but because, from the adults all around me, … Continue reading →

The Power of We

Colossians 3:12-14 English Standard Version (ESV) 12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all … Continue reading →

What’s the Point of Conversation?

The Quora Chronicles – Part 8 Many times, when questions like this one appear in my “Asked to Answer” notifications on Quora I find myself wondering about the person who asked the question and why they asked it. Is this person simply shy, anti-social, or a Millennial or Gen Z who communicates mostly through social … Continue reading →

“Stop Eyeballing Me, Boy!”

The Quora Chronicles – Part 6 Actor Louis Gossett, Jr. made history as the first Black American to win the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as Marine Corp Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley in the 1982 film, “An Officer and a Gentleman.” One of Foley’s most memorable lines comes when Richard Gere’s character first … Continue reading →

A Different Kind of “Christmas Cheer

I love my job!  Since 2011, when I left the corporate world to become a teacher of English as a Second Language, I have probably learned as much or perhaps more from my students as they have learned from me.  In addition to learning the language, many immigrants to the United States are also anxious … Continue reading →

Who Am I?

I had always hated group sharing in school – always.  The other students were too dull, too immature, and just too slow, both literally and figuratively.  Being perceived as “really smart”, especially as a little black girl, from a working-class family, in a working-class city was both a blessing and a curse.  The was a … Continue reading →

Why We Need Political Correctness Reminder #1

This is me.  Robin Nathania Mathes Peacher Landry.  However, at the time that this picture was taken, my name was simply, Robin Nathania (pronounced by my family as “nuh-than-ee-yuh”,  which I hated and decided to change to “na-tahn-ya” when I realized that it was my name, and I could say it any way that made … Continue reading →

The Upside Down Pyramid

I know that I’m getting older when I begin to notice the names of my former middle school and high school teachers filling the obituary pages of the online version of my old hometown newspaper with disturbingly increasing regularity.  It shouldn’t come as such a shock; it has been four decades after all, since I … Continue reading →

Paradox of the Chosen Ones

12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” Colossians 3:12-14 English Standard Version (ESV) I confess; I’m a “word … Continue reading →