It is the will of the gods

In November Meg was nominated by her teacher as a 'Super Citizen', an example of a fine upstanding youth in her community. Since I didn't have classes on her special day of recognition I went along to observe this strange schoolyard ritual.




The money changers at work outside the temple









I can only assume that the SuperCitizen assembly was once a beautiful ceremony devoted to the pure ideals of civic virture. But like so many celebrations, the meaning was slowly drained away as it became increasingly commercialized. Today it has been reduced to nothing more than a frenzied orgy of laminated certificates and laffy-taffy.



On this day the rain stopped just long enough for the student to bring their plastic chairs out of their classroom and assembled themselves in the courtyard. Then students from each grade are called up to the podium, where the principal presents them with their certificate and parents bring up their candy leis. I spent ten dollars (ten dollars!) purchasing candy strung together by the bourgeois capitalists who set up their stands outside the school that morning. Handing over that money felt like passing a gallstone, but what's a parent to do? Is a principle worth your little girl being the only one in the entire school not wearing a candy lei?



Meg stood proudly on the podium as the remainder of her classmates prostrated themselves in worship of their twin gods Sucrose and Glucose. We hurried up with other parents to place the leis on their shoulders and take pictures. After all the students had been recognized they had a very bizarre skit involving two guys dressed as 'Ernie and Bernie' from Shark Tales jumping around and yelling with Jamaican accents. I think it was about communication.

I thought two leis was excessive, but as we walked out of the schoolyard we saw a girl with at least ten candy-leis around her neck. I wonder if the candy fairy visited her that night.