Been Thinkin' 'Bout. . .

I think I discovered my name if I was a blues singer, though calling me a singer would be a stretch. Ben Thinkinbout, or maybe Bent Hinkinbout. That is going nowhere fast.

I've been thinking about changing jobs. My family suffers through this too many times in normal year. You know the symptoms; bad day at school, boring/meaningless meeting, rude colleagues in said meeting, another task on top of just doing the job you were hired for (In my case teaching students), seeing a new person lay a task before us that has already been done twice before, give our best effort and thought to the new task and seeing someone else subvert the idea into a no-win situation that becomes a political nightmare.
Add on the thoughts of being towards the end of a career and the ramifications of moving to a new job. Will the pay be less in the end? What if it's a wash now, but retirement is greater? What about the energy expended just looking and changing jobs?
My wonderful wife asked me a question last night over dinner. We were eating in a mall restaurant after "shopping" with our daughter on her birthday. I didn't realize until after we sat down that the couple next to us were former students of mine. We call them affectionately "Formers" and present students "Presents." Our children coined the terms. This couple had their children with them and I was remembering when our children were young when I realized who they were. Haven't seen these particular people in years and it was pleasant saying hello. In walking through the mall before dinner we had seen close to a dozen Formers and Presents. This is a typical public experience. My wife knows that I'm thinking about changing schools again. She asked me, "Do you think you'd enjoy going out in public without being seen and known? Or would it bother you?"
I had to think about that. Gandhi said that one of the reasons he liked traveling 3rd class was to be anonymous. "Where I was surrounded by people who had heard of me I was the victim of their craze for darshan. . . [and]has often made me angry, and more sore at heart. Whereas travelling, though often trying, has been uplifting and has hardly ever roused me to anger." There are definitely times it is nice to be anonymous. I was starting to have the thoughts that Gandhi had. Wouldn't it be nice to walk about and not be noticed? But it seems at times I find a comfort in knowing others. It's nice that these Formers at least have a nice enough remembrance to be pleasant to us. It gives me a sense of being accountable. I can't hide. Kind of a physical reminder that God is everywhere. But that isn't the question at hand.
To me the questions of changing jobs comes down to where will I be most effective for the next 10-15 years and where will I be that helps my family the most? If a person feels called to help others, isn't home the first place that they should help? If home is cared for, then others can be helped.
The multifaceted answer is, given current and potential transportation costs, staying put is better financially. Don't want to sell and move. With paid extra duty assignments, there aren't many districts that pay more than I earn now. There are some that match or exceed with less days worked and that should be explored. Wouldn't it be nice to spend some more family time before all of the children are on their own? I wonder about the energy needed to change, so staying would be better. But can I still be effective where I am. For now, yes.