There are occasions when the college systems appear to be totally out of touch with the communities they're in. Our college is battling with poor teacher parent relations. One of the most important reasons is that the new principal for the middle college is new to the area. He doesn't have a good experience of the community and the people in it. Also he is retired from the army and has a tendency to treat the scholars as if they were in bootcamp.

I don't mind discipline, implications and rules, but he appears to take things to the max. He's growing so quick that we will be able to barely keep garments on him. It feels like I'm able to buy him a new pair of pants and 2 weeks later his ankles are showing. He's getting near to the same size as my hubby, so for one or two months they may be ready to share pants. Any one wearing anything more wouldn't be permitted to sing. He included that black jeans would be permitted if they weren't faded out. We had gone thru this dress code for choir a couple of years back. So many elders were upset about not having the ability to afford new garments, that we held a fund raiser and bought robes for the choir.

I asked my boy what has happened to the choir robes. He revealed the new principal didn't like them as it took away from every person's individualism. I couldn't believe a person that spent the majority of his life wearing a uniform would be nervous about this. He told me it was no gigantic deal because father's black jeans fit him. I told him it wasn't about him getting new pants or wearing black jeans, it was actually the fact the parents had pulled together as a community to buy the robes. The telephone rang for one or two rings prior to it being picked up. I was told that he was on the telephone and that there were 3 callers holding to chat to him. I guessed I wasn't the sole parent upset by the note. The concert was 3 nights away so I told my boy he wanted to try on the black jeans to be certain they fit and we also had to get a white shirt with sleeves that were long enough. We basically made an appropriate outfit out of his pop's garments. The black jeans were a bit too long, but this was better than being too short. The day after my boy returned home with another note saying that the choir members would be wearing robes for the concert. Allegedly the principal modified his mind after spending one or two hours on the telephone with annoyed folks.