credentials

I collect credentials. Teaching French and only French is what I blame for this obsession. It made me a specialist. I love being the person people go to with a specific, beyond what most people know, type of question because they are pretty sure I will know the answer.

I worked at garden center a few summers in college and then again when I was in a new town and wanted a fun job. While watering the perennials, I would read and memorize the tags. I knew each plant; their growth and conditions. The owners soon sent customers to me as the resident "perennial expert." Later I took this further and got my master gardener credential. I was now a French specialist and a gardening specialist, YES! Awesome!

I have since become the person people ask about how to do many home projects like decorating, making curtains, what color to paint a room, how to cover chairs, what flooring to choose, etc. I love having the answers. Makes sense that I was a teacher eh?

 There is a down-side to this type of personality, and maybe other teachers feel the same. I only want to hang out with people I can learn something from. This equal a low tolerance for those whom I deem to have nothing to offer me. Pretty arrogant and judgemental, I know, it's a character flaw. My husband did not go to college, or even finish high school for that matter. There was a moment where my education snobbery perked it's ears.

 I soon knew I had a lot to learn from him and that it would take a very long time to glean this knowledge. I see it when I call him to ask what is this new duck that stopped by the lake. He tells me immediately that it is a shoveler or a blue-winged teal and that they are warm weather migrators who won't be here too long. He spotted the one pair of Canadian geese out of the 20 on the pond who will choose to nest here this spring. He knows the habits of fish and when and where to catch them so the kids won't be bored. He is supremely fearless and utterly confident in his knowledge of the environment. He is a specialist, and a special one at that.