The good little Maoist conformists of the Easthampton Public School District in Western Massachusetts dodged a bullet Thursday: they had very nearly hired a wrongthinker, an unenlightened, non-woke individual who was even a cis white male as their new superintendent. But just in time, the school district was saved: the sinister candidate committed an offense against all that is good and holy, and the job offer that had been extended to him was summarily rescinded. The errant near-superintendent’s crime? He called a couple of women “ladies.”
I apologize for not affixing a trigger warning to the immediate beginning of this article. I realize that you likely read that unguardedly, unaware of the enormity of the offense that had been committed. If you need counseling now, I certainly understand. It isn’t every day that one comes across such a flagrant crime against decency as this one, and the shock is indeed severe. The Daily Hampshire Gazette, a paper that publishes out of Northampton, Mass., reported Saturday that a man named Vito Perrone was a finalist for the job of superintendent and indeed, had actually been offered the job before he committed the unpardonable offense that led to the job offer being withdrawn.
Perrone “said Friday that the School Committee rescinded its offer to hire him in executive session Thursday night, alleging that the reason was a perceived microaggression contained in an email he sent to the committee chairperson.” The process of his hiring was so far along that he had already entered into salary negotiations with the district, “after he was offered the position the morning of March 24.” The Easthampton School Committee “offered Perrone a three-year contract with an annual salary of $151,000 — approximately $14,000 less than what he has making [sic] as an interim superintendent of West Springfield Public Schools.” Yet “despite the lower salary, he said he was keen on accepting the role.” He seemed like a good catch for Easthampton. But then he sent the fateful email.
Perrone recounted: “This job was not about the money for me. I honestly felt like I was coming home to Easthampton. I coached football here. I was principal here when we built the school. I have such wonderful memories … I was excited to come back.” But as the contract negotiations went on, Perrone sent an email to School Committee Chairperson Cynthia Kwiecinski and the committee’s executive assistant, Suzanne Colby. In it, he addressed Kwiecinski and Colby as “ladies,” and all hell broke loose.
Kwiecinski, according to Perrone, charged that his use of the word “ladies” constituted a “microaggression,” and he should have known better. His clumsy word choice demonstrated his dangerous ignorance: “the fact that he didn’t know that as an educator was a problem.” Understandably, Perrone was dumbfounded at this woke lunacy: “I was shocked. I grew up in a time when ‘ladies’ and ‘gentlemen’ was a sign of respect. I didn’t intend to insult anyone.” But that’s how authoritarian societies work: you never quite know the rules, which are constantly changing anyway. That way the citizen is always living in fear and always on his toes, extra careful not to offend the elites, who could strike against him without warning at any time. A fearful populace is a compliant populace.
Related: Boston School Latest to Ask Young Kids About Their Sex Lives
Kwiecinski has remained resolutely mum about this entire ridiculous (and ominous) incident, but Perrone thought it was important to clear the air: “I don’t want people to think I was not willing to negotiate in good faith. I have chosen not to just leave it as ‘negotiations stalled.’ I would rather share my truth, my sadness, and disappointment and try to find a way forward positively.”
While his disappointment is understandable, it’s really Perrone, and not the Easthampton Public School District, who has dodged the bullet here. Imagine having to work on a day-to-day basis with these woke harridans. It would be like living Kafka’s The Trial, in which the protagonist is charged with a crime but never told exactly what he is accused of having done. “Honestly,” Perrone reiterated, “I am truly, truly disappointed that I won’t be in Easthampton in that building. I’m just sad.” He should be dancing a jig, were it not for the fact that pretty much anywhere that he does ultimately get a job is likely to present him with the same humorless, censorious, and unforgiving Leftist environment.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member