The Office: Spoiler Alert!!!

When I watched Freedom Writers with Em, I expected it to hit hard. That movie is about an idealistic teacher in an urban school. Sound familiar?

But sometimes life hits you when you don't expect it. The Office normally brightens my day. Today, however, half the plot focused on "Scott's Tots," a group of students to whom Michael had promised he would pay for college. He made this promise when they were in 3rd grade; they now were graduating high school. Of course, Michael can't pay for the college education of 15 kids.

It broke my heart. Those kids were my kids in 4 or 5 or 6 years' time. I know how much hope it would give them if someone promised them college, and I know exactly how they would react if someone broke that promise to them. I know only the iceberg's tip of the promises that have been broken for them, of the people who haven't come through, of the ways they've been let down. I couldn't find it amusing to watch that happen on TV.