the rising generation

in houston, it is unseasonably warm. it's always been rather warm here, but after living in utah for 5 years and then moving back, the difference is very clear. i clearly remember wearing my letter jacket to high school between november and february, at least. i very clearly remember my younger sister being chastized for wearing open-toed shoes in december, and i remember being able to see my breath as a child.
there has been only one week, this year, when i was able to see my breath.
it's a little more than disturbing. we are living proof of global warming.
and i live at Lee High School, where we are no better than a den of tree killers, armed with our arsenal of worksheets and handouts and fill-in-the-blank notes, notebooks, and chart paper. we're taking out America, one forest at a time.
nice.
what was even more chilling was a conversation with my sophomore, pre-ap class. as cassandra looked out the window, she complained, "It is so hot this year"
I replied, without looking up, "It's global warming."
"What's global warming, Miss?"
I nearly choked.
"What's global warming?"
They had somehow never heard of CFC's or that hair-spray and car exhaust damage the ozone layer, and they had never heard of the greenhouse effect. The entire lesson sequence paused as I began to gesticulate (wildy, of course) and preached the good word(s): Ozone, Greenhouse, Weather, Recycle.
"Are we going to die, Miss?," Jazmine wanted to know.
"You know, we just might."
the next day cassandra put a crumpled-up note in my recycle box instead of the wastebasket. "Oh whoops," she said as she straightened out the wrinkles, "Recycle."
it may very well be the only thing she's learned from me all year.