Firefighters, Police officers....Teachers?

Warning: Coarse Language is used. Viewer discretion is advised (no suing).
Today I am finally vindicated in saying that teaching is one of the hardest professions in the world. There are so many people who believe that you can just stand up in front of a classroom, start talking, and the students will just go with it. Hmmm. No. A lot of times you feel like Will Ferrell's Alex Trebek on Celebrity Jeopardy. You know what I mean. Sometimes you just cannot believe what you are hearing. Don't get me wrong, I love teaching (and I'm using the word "love" here). I love the challenge with all the preparing that needs to go into it, and the fact that no matter how well you cover every angle, you can still be surprised or occasionally unprepared. Still, I have been out at parties with my wife's co-workers (all engineers) who tell me that teaching is easy. Oh really, Mr. Smarty-Pants? Try it for one day. If you aren't prepared, you'll burn out quickly. I saw it all through my Master's program. One guy even quit student teaching not once, but twice. He thought the first time was due to outside influences, but really it was just that he couldn't handle it.
Honest to God, there are days when I would rather work for a bomb squad, because I truly believe there would be less pressure. In a totally egotistical manner, I look at it this way. I have between 30 to 45 people in my classroom. If I say the wrong thing or if I'm too harsh on one of them, it's very possible that my comment can affect that student so much, that they can never recover. Doctor's only have one life on the table, I have 30 to 40 in front of me everyday. Granted, that's a little bit of a self-serving way to look at it, but I feel it's true.
So why do I say I feel vindicated? Because today I was pulled over by a state trooper. Yup, yours truly was speeding along at 15 over the speed limit. The officer pulled me over and walked up to the car. He asked for my license. As I handed it to him, he noticed my badge (which I had forgotten to take off). Looking at it carefully, he asked me:
"Are you a teacher?"
I replied, "Yes I am, officer. I was just coming from teaching summer school."
"What do you teach?"
"I teach Basic Standards Reading."
"To?"
"Eighth graders and high school kids."
"You're working with high school kids in the summer?"
"Yes, sir, I am."
After contemplating this for a moment, he handed me back my license.
"I"m going to give you a warning, Mr. Leab. I think you've had enough punishment for today."
"Thank you so much."
"No, thank you. You're the one trying to fix our kids." (Note: I'm not sure I agree with his statement, but I don't want the ticket.)
So there you have it. A police officer, arguably one of the toughest professions, essentially told me that I have a tough job. Anyone who thinks teaching is just "really easy" needs to take note of this. It's not easy. Ask any teacher, and he or she will tell you the amount of work that goes into it. The key is that we have to take our work home with us. A lot of the people my wife work with do not.
So remember, boys and girls, respect your teachers. Realize that they are human too. We do have feelings, we just try not to let you see them.