It was a busy week, for reasons I’ll explain a little further down the page. The bottom line: it left me with time to concoct only one newsy poem:
F-Bombastic (June 25, 2021)
A case involving the free speech rights of students made it all the way to the Supreme Court:
In a victory for student speech rights, the Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that a former cheerleader's online F-bombs about her school is protected speech under the First Amendment.
But in an 8-1 vote, the court also declared that school administrators do have the power to punish student speech that occurs online or off campus if it genuinely disrupts classroom study. But the justices concluded that a few swearwords posted online off school grounds, as in this case, did not rise to the definition of disruptive.
At issue in the case was a series of F-bombs issued in 2017 on Snapchat by Brandi Levy, then a 14-year-old cheerleader who failed to win a promotion from the junior varsity to the varsity cheerleading team at her Pennsylvania school.
"I was really upset and frustrated at everything," she said in an interview with NPR in April. So she posted a photo of herself and a friend flipping the bird to the camera, along with a message that said, "F*** the school. ... F*** cheer, F*** everything."
[Read more here: https://www.npr.org/2021/06/23/1001382019/supreme-court-rules-cheerleaders-f-bombs-are-protected-by-the-first-amendment]
Both the ACLU, who represented the student, and the counsel for the school district claimed victory on the basis of the SCOTUS’s ruling.
All I know is next school year there is going to be a deluge of online postings from students who will F-this and F-that, all while smugly claiming immunity from disciplinary action because “the Supreme Court SAID I can do this, you feel me?”
I’ll bet you read the title of this edition of the newsletter as two words that rhyme — but “Tear” in this case should be understood as coming from “teardrop.” I shed a few tears this week, mostly of joy.
I made a quick, 24-hour-turnaround trip to visit Randi Lebar, a childhood friend of mine who, although we’ve sporadically kept in touch, I hadn’t seen in over 40 years. We last visited while in our early 20s, with only the occasional email after that and then a long, unintentional dry spell. But not too long ago, through the magic of Facebook, we reconnected. The Year of Covid kept a get-together at bay, but this week the calendar and health regulations were properly aligned to allow for an in-person reunion.
I drove from my home in Maine to hers on Cape Cod and we quickly fell back into the comfort that comes from a long and enduring friendship. Yet the purpose of my visit wasn’t just to see my friend — but also her 93-year-old mother, who is living with dementia and is in a wonderful facility just a few minutes away from Randi’s house. Mrs. Lebar was like a second mother to me during my junior and senior high days, and also served as my 7th-grade music teacher AND my piano teacher (briefly; sadly, I’d lost most of my interest in playing by that time due to sub-par instructional methods provided by other instructors). Amazingly, Mrs. Lebar still plays the piano — and I’m not talking “Chopsticks” here; she plays complex performance pieces from memory, can sight-read sheet music, and can transpose at the keyboard on the fly. It’s literally a mind-boggling experience.
You may have seen Mrs. Lebar on the news last year, when a number of media organizations picked up on Randi’s posting of TikTok videos that display her mother’s impressive piano abilities:
Randi and I spent a very pleasant hour or so visiting with her mother. At some points, Mrs. Lebar said she remembered me and at others said, “It’s nice to meet you.” Regardless, she seemed comfortable with my presence throughout the visit and I took great satisfaction from that.
The icing on the cake came the next morning: Randi suggested we visit the Heritage Museum and Gardens, a stunningly lovely spot also close to her house, before I had to return home. Randi is a member, so we could take advantage of “Membership Mornings” that day and gain access to the grounds an hour before they opened to the public. A woman from the facility’s staff was stationed at the entrance, checking in members and their guests as they arrived. After a moment, I realized this woman was Megan, a former co-worker of mine from a previous employer who I had last seen 5 or 6 years ago. I said, “I know who this person is” — she turned and saw me and then gave me one of the biggest hugs I’ve ever gotten while bursting into tears. (I have that effect on people, not always in a positive way — but I *think* Megan was happy to see me.)
So, to see one of my oldest and dearest friends again, AND her mother, AND experience an unanticipated encounter with a fondly remembered work friend — it was all quite a bit to process. I’m looking forward to arranging another trip to the Cape later this year and trust I’ll get to visit with all three of these wonderful people again. But for now, I have a memory of Mrs. Lebar placing her hand affectionately on my face and… here come those tears again.
There was also a brief period of crying when we found out the vanity in our new bathroom had been installed incorrectly. But that’s an entirely different well of emotions to draw from.
Have a great week!
JB
For all the crap that FB can be, one of the very best parts is that it allows us to reconnect with so many people we've lost touch with over the years. What a treat for you to get to see some long-ago friends.