Issue Date: 
Jan 11 2007 - 11:00pm
Author: 
Page3
Topics: 
city living

They sure do grow up fast these days—children, that is. One day they’re in diapers and the next thing you know they’re calling in bomb threats on their Hello Kitty mobile phones so they can go shopping. Isn’t that wonderful! How did they get to be such smart little consumers? They’re so lucky to have cable TV.When we were that age we didn’t have a million channels or YouTube, and we couldn’t even imagine a phone that wasn’t connected to the wall with wires. If we wanted to skip class, we’d fake a stomachache, while all this generation has to do is send a threatening four-word SMS or email and the whole school gets shut down—this, ladies and gentlemen, is progress. And notice how much more generous they are than we were? This way everyone gets to go home early, not just the kid with the best acting skills. We’re so proud of you, kids!We’re also proud of your teachers. The only people who deserve more love, support and understanding than children are those who get them out of our hair for the greater part of the day. That’s why teachers also get their own day, this year three days after Children’s Day, a full 24 hours of recognition even though they don’t work 12 months per year like, say, investment bankers, who don’t have their own holiday.We are well aware of the importance of education in Thailand, which is obvious from the huge salaries we pay them, the long breaks we give them during which time they can make even more money operating tutoring schools and the glamorous locations we send them to work, such as provinces in the South.So, to both children and teachers, enjoy your special days in the sun...and we’ll see you again next year, you can be sure of that.