Call it the story that won’t go away, the 15 minutes of fame that has turned into a couple of weeks. And now it only gets worse if you ask me.
Now nothing against Mitt Romney, but I just knew this would happen.
Charles Carroll High student Samantha Pawlucy and teacher Lynette Gaymon got into a verbal scuffle awhile back over a Romney shirt the student was wearing. Before you knew it, the teacher was accused of publicly humiliating the student.
Well, before you can say overreaction, the lines were drawn and supporters for each side were fighting it out, debating who was wrong. There were protests, rallies, social media battles and all sorts of TV time making Philly once again the target of scorn around the country.
After all, when it comes to doing dumb things, it seems like Philly leads the way.
So the saga dragged on and the girl left school, apologies were supposed to happen, letters read to the student body asking for calm, veterans protesting outside the school, lawyers retained (of course), the student returning to school and now the student leaving the school looking for another place to go.
And you thought the story had finally ended? You are wrong.
Romney, according to a story posted on Philly.com, called Pawlucy’s home. Here’s a link to the story: http://bit.ly/VVWVAG.
The Philly.com story says that the student was not home at the time of the Romney call.
Says the Philly.com story:
“Instead, Romney spoke with Pawlucy’s mother, Kristine. Kate Meriwether, spokeswoman for the Romney campaign in Pennsylvania, confirmed the call by email this morning.
“Relaying what his wife told him, Richard Pawlucy said Romney called to thank his daughter for standing up for herself and see how the family is doing.
“’[Kristine Pawlucy] said it was like talking to a neighbor,’” Richard Pawlucy said.
“The teacher, Lynette Gaymon, has not returned to the school. She is waiting for the results of a school district investigation and hearing.”
In social media lingo: OMG. As in, oh my god. For me, it’s more like please, can we just move on?
I will be waiting for the TV movie next. Exactly what is the irreparable harm to this young lady? Yes, the teacher was wrong for saying what she said. She says it was done in humor but I don’t buy that.
In a nutshell, the teacher was wrong, the kid was overly sensitive, others jumped in where they didn’t belong but now we have a presidential candidate weighing in? Talk about a story that has been overplayed and beaten to death.
Look, both the teacher and the student were wrong and I have said that all along. But really, it’s time to put this incident behind and move forward.
But that isn’t going to happen. The girl and her family have a lawyer and the teacher hasn’t come back to school. And when she does, we’ll see what happens with her.
This should be a lesson to us all. Unless you’re prepared for the consequences, make sure you think before you speak. Otherwise you may end up with 15 minutes (or more) of fame you may later wish you never had.
— Andy Hachadorian
From the editor's chair 