Don't worry about your coworkers, and if you want, just freaking wrap your toes in gauze (lightly) and put them in a pair of loose sandals. It's that or the dreaded "man" dansco clog, LOL. I will admit (I wear them myself, as do many health professionals, they're the best shoe ever made) but I STILL whenever I see a dude in them, I go, "Gay?"
OMG, how um, I want to say I'm racist, but I forget the term now that means I suck at dealing with the alphabet people, (and I do).
Also, anytime I mention the alphabet people, I go on a major rant, so I won't.
Right now AZ is having a freaking fit about their salaries and are striking. In RED shirts. "Red for ed."
Some interesting stuff has emerged. Like teachers making double what most parents do in Tucson, anyway, for working 26 weeks out of the year! They really aren't endearing themselves to the populace, frankly, and their complaints about parents being "unsupportive and absent" are just going to increase. I attended EVERY single event or issue brought up by the school (Lol, a lot of the time it was to tell them off, to tell them they were wrong, or to insist my kid NOT accept a participation trophy.) I was an active parent and unfortunately my values insisted I tell my kid that if he didn't respect someone he merely needed to pay the same respect due any living human being, i.e. politeness, but that if it wasn't a life and death situation, he was MORE than welcome to let his thoughts and feelings be known. Man, I paid dearly, many pounds of flesh, for that teaching, but I still believe kids deserve the golden rule.
LOLOL, one of my favorite things ever was my kiddo got switched classes and he really didn't like it. In response to one journal entry he went into this fantastic, and very cogent discussion of WHY he didn't like the new classroom. "You seem to have trouble maintaining order. I don't like it because it makes my head ache. In Ms. Grey's class she kept to her schedule, and it was quiet. Perhaps you should talk to her about classroom management, because I really enjoyed being able to do my work and I am sure you'd like it too..." Etc.
She got so mad she wrote a 3 page response. With grammar issues. On the kid's own recognizance he went to the vice principal and asked to change classrooms. LOL. I still have the journal, it's precious.
But yeah, I'm not sure the educational staff were my fans, and I'm the type to volunteer IN classrooms, not so much because I deemed it necessary, I rather wished to find out exactly WHAT was going on so I could intervene if necessary.
I have a feeling the teacher's strike is going to result in a lot more parents complaining as I did. ... a 76K for 6 months work. I worked 70 hour workweeks for FAR less than that, and STILL found time to be an active parent. SO glad I'm not having to shove anymore kids through AZ's "educational system," that's for certain. Although, I think the teachers are shooting themselves in the foot. I had NO clue they were paid that much, and frankly, had I known, I would have demanded a FAR higher standard than I already did.
Good luck teachers and AZ.
Anna