LEONARD GRAY / L’Observateur / January 28, 2000

Something must be said for the necessary professions in our society.

There are some people who, despite low pay, horrible working conditions and little respect, nonetheless perservere in doing good and necessary work.

Let’s look at a few of them – teachers, police and firefighters.

Teachers have it rough. Having worked for six long weeks as a substituteteacher in a Kenner middle school a few years ago, I gathered enough war stories to fascinate people who have never been teachers.

But teachers have tons of work to do, both in and out of class. There’slesson plans, textbook inventory and grading of essays and tests. There’ssupervision of student activities. There’s disciplinary duties. For thosenot trained, such as I, it was a daily nightmare of trying to outlast the students who seemed determined to drive me from the job.

Without going into all the stories, ranging from gambling and drug dealing to vandalism and violence, let me say I came away from the experience much more appreciative of real teachers.

They are given the task of shaping young minds and awakening their imaginations and love of learning. In many cases, they are disappointed,yet they always try.

In short, real teachers deserve all the monetary incentives and parental support they can get. Anyone who doubts this should try subbing for aweek.

The law enforcement profession is one of which I’ve written many times.

In the course of my checkered career, I’ve gone on more ride-alongs with deputies, municipal police officers and detectives than I can remember.

I remember going on one pre-dawn roundup in St. Charles Parish severalyears ago. We were approaching a house in Norco where a suspected drugdealer was believed to be hiding. A deputy circled around to the back ofthe house.

Suddenly a shot was fired. My heart stopped, fearing the worst.Fortunately, the deputy had shot and killed a guard dog which attacked him. However, it made me think of that deputy’s family, not knowingexactly where he was and in what danger he was putting himself to protect and serve a mostly-unappreciative public.

It makes me very grateful for two things – that there are people willing to do that necessary work; and that I’m not one of them.

Finally, firefighters perform an incredibly vital function in our society, to directly protect our lives and property from fire and explosion. In theRiver Parishes, these are volunteer firefighters.

Imagine being awakened at 3 a.m. after having put in a long day of shiftwork. You hurry into your firefighting gear and hurry to the scene of thelatest fire.

It may be a mansion. It may be a tiny rental home. It may be a trailer. Itcould be anybody’s house. You are there, to stop the fire, help save whatcan be saved and comfort those who may have lost everything. And you doit for no pay.

You put in endless hours of training and re-training. You stand a goodchance of injury or death yourself. And hopefully, your family understandsand supports your dedication.

That’s a real hero.

LEONARD GRAY is a reporter for L’Observateur.

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