Maybe she can beat the system.

Thousands of Italian teachers would like to leave Italy and teach abroad. And last week they flocked to Rome. Trying to qualify for several hundred teaching positions in Italian schools in foreign countries. That included my Italian true love, who teaches English and English literature in a high school in Sardinia. I'd like nothing better than to see her fulfill her wish/dream. By teaching school in America. Maybe even in Minnesota. The odds of that happening are long. But hey, nothing is impossible. She had a stint at an Italian school in Brazil last summer. The thing is, my true love isn't politically-connected. And in Italy it's helpful to play the political game. Italy abounds in political patronage. The well-connected get ahead much faster than those who aren't. That goes to some degree all over the world, I suppose. But more so in Italy than other places. My true love doesn't fit into the system. She ain't a manipulator. She refuses to play politics. She plays it straight. Believes in merit. And maybe that puts her at a disadvantage in Italy. But not with me. I like her ethics. Her honesty. Instead, she'd rather fight the system than join it. She became riled in Rome. Because the questions on one of the qualifying tests for the teaching positions were leaked. To certain teachers in Rome. Of course, that gave them an advantage. There was hullabaloo over the leak. And rumors spread that teachers might protest. Vociferously. Maybe even riot. So riot police and two paddywagons showed up. Just in case. But cooler heads prevailed. There was no riot. Only verbal protests. Turns out that teachers and riot police commiserated with each other. On friendly terms. An indication that maybe most Italian teachers have a temperament similar to my true love's. Verbally expressive rebels. Opposed to violence and riots. They try to win the battles by calling for fairness and full disclosure and basic human decency. They are what educators are supposed to be. My true love setting the finest example. Wouldn't it be wonderful if she/they beat the system? --Jim Broede