Thoughts on Being Common

I was able to take my regular walk this morning in the rain.  Beautiful tiny drops, slightly chilly and slightly damp fell on my face, hair, arms, and earphones.  Rain in my desert in not as common as I wish it were; obviously it won't ever be.  You should observe  the desert in the rain: you can almost see the cactus stretching out to grab each and every drop. 

My regular morning walk is commonly very hot.  The sun will normally shine down and leave my face and arms slightly pink; reminding me that an average person should always wear sunscreen. 

But this uncommon morning I got to thinking ( oh boy) about the words we use so commonly: regular, common, same,  average, and normal.  I don't think I want to have another regular day.  A regular day would consist of following my normal schedule, eating average meals, and dressing in my same clothes.  If you are a people watcher like me I have recently discovered that we are not so common. And most of us thankfully are not so normal.   We may be eating at the same restaurant but are we having the same conversation?  We certainly aren't from the same backgrounds; are we?  We may have some commonalities, or similarities, but not exactly. 

I have a common domesticated cat.  She is simply the most regular looking feline there is and yet she hates to be picked up, will bite you even while she is purring, and she must sit right on my newspaper every morning. Actually, maybe that is common.  But what about a regular white t-shirt?  Pair it with some normal jeans and whoa! James Dean.  Certainly not average.  I like to drink regular coffee.  Just black.  I find that the people who normally drink their coffee black have a lot in common with me. 

I don't want anyone for a second to think that my classroom this fall will be filled with average children.  What is an average child?  What is an average test score?  When parents are so happily holding their healthy baby do they hope that this new person will be common, regular, and average?  I don't know any parent that thinks their child is average.  I hope that I never become a regular teacher.  One of my favorite vocabulary activities in my class is to set out a line with opposite words on each end.  Imagine a line with hot on one side and cold on the other.  The extremes.  Now we try and fill in the middle of the line with words that gradually go from hot to cold.  The kids come up with the most astute, descriptive words; always surprising themselves.  Boiling, warm, steaming, chilly, freezing, cool, etc...the words are endless.  How can these kids be average?

I can think of some things that I wish were common.  I wish peace was common.  I wish we could all just be  regularly nice to each other.  I wish that we would have normal doctor check-ups.

In this world of ours with millions of people nobody has the same fingerprint.  They might be similar but not exact.  The expression, " we are bound by a common thread... " are we really?  I don't want to know a world that has been melted together like  wax; I love that everyone is so Different.  All of my friends are different.  There is nothing regular about anyone in my family.  Sometimes, actually most of the time, our views are not even the same.  Can you imagine if slavery were still common?  Or segregation?  What if children with special needs weren't allowed access to the normal curriculum?  I am tired of the way we so casually put people and ideas into categories of normal, regular, average, and common.  There is nothing common anywhere in this world.  There are thousands of varieties of spiders, flowers, rocks, trees, ideas, and people.  Thank G-d.  I think today I will do something very regular like feed my animals and I am so thankful for my regular walk in the uncommon rain.  When I finished my walk today the first thing I did?  I drank a huge glass of PLAIN water.  (oh boy, here I go again).