Chris Port Blog #94. "There is no such thing as a fact..."

“There is no such thing as a fact. There are only stories. Choose different facts, and you get a different story...” ~ Marty Gull

Wow. I've just woken up from a relentless series of mini-nightmares. It was like an unfunny sketch show. The format was always the same. An innocent situation in the real world. Then hauled into the Head’s office for another written warning...

“There seems to be a pattern here,” he would say. “You’ve already been warned about your behaviour. Any recurrence will result in your dismissal.”

Yes indeed there was a pattern. Wilful misunderstanding. Sinister mistranslation. Most of the dreams have faded into fog. I can only remember the last one...

A girl ran out into the road. A car screeched and swerved, narrowly avoiding her. She stood there laughing. “Look out you idiot!” I shouted. “You’ll get killed!”

By the time I was in the Head’s office, the story was this...

“You shouted at a child in the street. You called them an idiot. You told them that they had better be careful or they were going to die. Do you think that this type of behaviour is acceptable from a teacher? You have brought the school into disrepute..."

There is no such thing as a fact. There are only stories...