CAT Tracks for May 13, 2002 HIGH, LOW, AND A JOKE OR TWO

HAIL TO THE CHIEF!

There was such a flurry of "late breaking news" late last week, that THE major event of the week passed without suitable recognition. So...with our utmost apologies...

IEA President Anne Davis and Vice President Ken Swanson made a personal visit to CAT headquarters. They brought with them heart-felt thanks to...YOU...the CAT membership. They both expressed their sincere belief that the IEA - 114,000 strong! - is the force that it is in Illinois because of the efforts of the individuals who STAND UP FOR WHAT IS RIGHT! We are the latest group to do just that. Anne and Ken assured one and all that the vast resources of the IEA are at our complete disposal. And...to show their personal appreciation, each wrote a $100 check "for the cause" - out of their personal accounts - not the IEA's.

Thank you Anne and Ken!

LET THE RUMORS BEGIN

The Board realizes that it has a BIG PR PROBLEM...that's what happens when you reject your own proposal and keep kids locked out of school. Not ones to rely on reason and logic...or honesty, the Board of Education has launched ANOTHER LIE:

RUMOR: The CAT bargaining team lied...the proposal delivered to the District administration at 3:15 p.m. Friday was not the same proposal that was explained to the general membership on Friday.

FACT: The proposal was exactly as explained! You are welcome to see it...and Barney's own letter of rejection confirms it!

EDITORIAL: We told you at the very beginning...there are those who, for whatever reason, will try to undermine the membership's trust in its leadership. You need to make your conversations with these people short. If the person is an "outsider"...politely inform them that they have no way of knowing what they are talking about. If the person is an "insider"...a CAT...then tell them to (1) take their concerns to the bargaining team, (2) bring their accusations to the membership meeting, and/or (3) leave you alone. In other words, "put up or shut up"!

P.S. The CAT bargaining team knows that the vast majority of you trust us...we have worked hard to earn/keep that trust. Thank you! And...keep us up to date on the next rumor...there will be many.

P.P.S. The District's new flyer...you know, the "prostituting" one...seemed to resonate well at Friday's meeting...REALLY firing people up...something that is NOT GOOD for the Board of Education, as they try to divide us with their aforementioned rumors. BUT...the members of the bargaining team had quite a different reaction...we smiled. Why? The Board's flyer...filled with attacks against your character and professionalism...is a clear indication of their desperation.

Their "house of cards"...their "house of lies" is starting to quiver...

THE JOKE'S ON WHOM?

Never one to tell jokes, I CAN appreciate humor. One of our members sent me a couple over the weekend that I thought very appropriate for out situation. Enjoy...

FIRST JOKE...(When I read this joke, I actually thought of a cat instead of a donkey!)

One day a farmer's donkey fell into an abandoned well. The animal cried for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided that the animal was old and the well needed to be covered up anyway, so it just wasn't worth it to him to try to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They each grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. Realizing what was happening, the donkey at first cried and wailed horribly. Then, a few shovelfuls later, he quieted down completely. The farmer peered down into the well, and was astounded by what he saw. With every shovelful of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up on the new layer of dirt. As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and trotted off, to the shock and astonishment of all the neighbors!

Moral of the Story: Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to not let it bury you, but to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a stepping-stone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, and never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up!

P.S. The donkey later kicked the crap out of the farmer who tried to bury him, which brings me to another moral for this story: Whenever you try to cover your ass, it always comes back and gets you in the end!

SECOND JOKE...made me think of another attorney from another town. So excuse a slight modification of the original locations of Washington, DC, and Oklahoma...

Subject: Three-Kick Rule

A big-city lawyer, from up St. Louis way, went duck hunting down in Southern Illinois. He shot and dropped a bird, but it fell into a farmer's field on the other side of a fence. As the lawyer climbed over the fence, an elderly farmer drove up on his tractor and asked him what he was doing?

The litigator responded, "I shot a duck and it fell in this field, and now I'm going in to retrieve it." The old farmer replied. "This is my property, and you are not coming over here." The indignant lawyer said, "I am one of the best trial attorneys in the United States and if you don't let me get that duck, I'll sue you and take everything you own."

The old farmer smiled and said, "Apparently, you don't know how we do things in Southern Illinois. Down here we settle small disagreements like this with the Three-Kick Rule." The lawyer asked, "A Three Kick Rule. What is the Three-Kick Rule?" The Farmer replied. "Well, first I kick you three times, and then you kick me three times, and so on, back and forth, until someone gives up". The attorney quickly thought about the proposed contest and decided that he could easily take the old codger. He agreed to abide by the local custom.

The old farmer slowly climbed down from the tractor and walked up to the city feller. His first kick planted his heavy work boot right into the lawyer's groin and dropped him to his knees. His second kick nearly knocked the man's nose off his face. The attorney was flat on his belly when the farmer's third kick to the kidney area almost caused him to give up, but the lawyer summoned every bit of his will, managed to get to his feet, and said, "Okay, you old coot, now it's my turn."

The old farmer smiled and said, " Naw, I give up. You can have the duck."

MONDAY, MONDAY...

8 a.m. ... Need I say more? Carry on...General membership meeting at 11 a.m.