My Fellow Teachers,

All you need is hugs.  From teddy bears and lovers, grandmas and two-year olds.  Embrace the value of hugs.  Give them, receive them.  Welcome-home hugs, I missed you hugs.  You’re my favorite teacher hugs, grizzly bear hugs.  Overjoyed hugs, victory is ours hugs.  I’ll protect you hugs, shoulder to cry on hugs.  I love you hugs.

Supple, slithery, boa constrictor hugs?  Eesh.  Cugh.cugh.

Did you ever regret trading your cookies for a bag of chips at lunch? Conditions we initially agree to may later feel restrictive, as though a boa were squeezing us.  Trading cookies for chips includes no secrets: the chewy, moist morsel is clearly visible and the chips are heard rattling in the factory-sealed bag.

In contrast, how many times have you voted for a teaching contract you’ve never once read? How many times has your signature and your “aye” vote been traded for a multi-page legally binding document you’ve been assured is great, but have never analyzed for yourself? You never would’ve traded your cookies at lunch for whatever “great” thing your “buddy” was hiding behind his back.  Why are you doing it now?