Breaking Down the Doors...


This morning started just like any other day. I went to the office and gathered my lesson plans and prepared for class at 7:35am.

As I was getting ready, one of the office girls came up to me and asked if I could help her investigate something. She showed me that one of the doors to our office had been broken, and it was clear that someone had broken in. We never use this door, and there is a huge cabinet in front of it. It seemed that someone broke the knob and pushed the door open (moving the filing cabinet at the same time). We did have a problem with a student going into the office a few weeks ago. He walked in and stole answers to an exam. My first thought was that he might have done it. I told the worker that there was no way to be sure who it was, short of taking fingerprints.

I then went to class, and as I was teaching, I was looking at the students trying to figure out who would be capable of doing it, who would be brazen enough to do it, who would be disrespectful and spoiled enough to think that they had the right to break in. My mind soon left the topic, and I finished teaching the class.

I returned to the office afterwards, at which point the same office girl came to me and said, “We found out who broke the door.” I asked her who; to which she replied, “They are standing right behind you.” I turned around and saw the Manager of our Study-Abroad Program. I asked her why she broke the door. She said that she didn’t have a key. I asked her why she didn’t call another staff member. She said that she hadn’t considered it. I also silently wondered what she would have done if she had lost her car keys.

Sometimes I just can’t understand her logic. I have always known that she was made manager of the program due to nepotism and bribery. It scares me sometimes to think that people find their way into positions of power and influence without having the ability or passion for what they are doing. My manager is one such person. I realize too that I really need to pray for her. I hope that she can become someone of integrity and well, just logic…

Ahhh… just another day…

“In life, particularly in public life, psychology is more powerful than logic.”
-Ludwig Quidde

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