Clearing the Air

 I have a terrible habit of speaking the truth on social media, probably because I didn’t have a friend to vent to over a cup of coffee or a glass of wine.

• Two people were illegally hunting moose after dark from a moving boat on the river in front of our cabin. That post nearly got me lynched. 

• The Unalakleet River Lodge used toxic cleaners in the cabins and the lodge (that post got me banned from the lodge). They didn’t use locally sourced ingredients and they served only the cheapest cuts of meat to the hard-working guides. I told the guests how delicious moose, caribou, and halibut were. The guests, who paid $5,300 per person for one week, would never get to taste them at the lodge and I was told to shut my mouth about local game. I could have gone on and on, but I won’t.

• I could order groceries for ⅓ as much, with free delivery from Target, as they charged at the local AC grocery store. That pissed off the store managers, who were besties with the lodge owner and manager, so that contributed to my banishment from the lodge.

• There were empty whiskey bottles on the school lawn, tobacco stains on my classroom carpet, and racism was rampant in Kwethluk. That blog post brought threats from the community that were so severe that I broke my teaching contract and left the village in March.

• The Unalakleet High School pressured me to give passing grades to athletes so that they could play in sporting events. That post got me fired, or non-retained as they say in the ed biz.