Modern Day Robin Hoods

In my early days of matriculation at Boise State, I was a spectator in a conversation in which a student argued that we were at Boise State, not Harvard, “it's not like we were getting a great education.” The professor retorted, “Do you think they have secret books at ivy league schools that you can't get here?”

I believe that this is when I realized what an egalitarian thing education was. One can argue that the connections and reputation that Harvard provides will give a graduate a leg up, but, as everyone knows, you can get by on charm for about fifteen minutes, after that, you better know something.

I've thought about this as an evolving concept since those freshman days, and I've realized that even the way we tell stories marks the importance of knowledge. As a child, I was taught that Columbus was convinced the earth was round, and that's why he sailed West to go East. His ground-breaking feat was not one of cultural subjugation, but of the proliferation of knowledge. True? Not true? It doesn't really matter. Columbus becomes a cultural hero because he's disseminating information. He's breaking through barriers. He's stealing information known only to the higher-ups and sharing it with all us plebeians.

I don't know what happened or when this changed, honestly it was probably some time around Scopes, but teachers became this thing to be ridiculed and criticized and not honored as the modern day Robin Hoods that they are.

Any steady-handed thief can steal from the rich and give to the poor, but only the best can learn, and without diminishing their own understanding, share that knowledge with others. I spent some time over the last few years trying to share what I know with others. It's difficult, exhausting, and often thankless, and I was teaching college students who were “choosing” to be in my classroom.

The Robin Hoods that I admire most are the men and women who chose, and continue to choose, sharing their knowledge with children. A Robin Hood that I admire and love most is my friend Kara. Kara Hood not only teaches with abandon (something I feel that many more teachers should do everyday), but she also does everything in her life with the same wild abandon. Her love for knowledge is so strong, that some days, I know there are new worlds to discover, and going West to get East was the smartest move ever made.

Another Anonymous Poem

For the dog and I and my little guy the carpet is our kingdom
and we fight over patches of sunlight to magic in,
sometimes to sleep, sometimes to grow giddy with warmth.
Toys are always grimey and one day you just accept it.

My son smells like spaghetti-os or milk or bath
and we sing to the dog and no one could ever tell us that the dog doesn’t love it,

doesn’t hear Aretha croon or Sesame Street jive
in a way that hypnotizes him to our moment and our happiness;
true commune between beasts, real joy amongst animals
communication and meaning that emerges from our mammal hearts and our family brains and gives little use to the perfect symbol world and the able infrastructure it has built.

The stairs my son can’t climb.
The books my son can’t read.
The hot but modest girl he can’t take to prom unless she loses some extraordinary bet. On a reality show. In a parallel universe.

No is an invention, not found in nature. The only reason my son ‘can’t’ is because he does differently.

And that’s not a can’t.

He can roll and crawl about our carpet kingdom where his best friend is a giant dog
that loves Aretha and lives for Sesame Street.
We keep the questions and can’ts at the door – the only thing that gets through there is the occasional pizza.
We won’t be disturbed, the dog and I and my little guy,
because we’re busy in his living room laboratory – inventing new ways to be.