Perhaps This Is The Danger Of Tenure

I'll have to write review of Persona 3 at some point, maybe after I play it a 3rd time. The nice thing about the second time through - besides having a better understanding of the game mechanics - was how much better the story held together. It took me 85 hours to beat the first time, but that was spread out over almost two years. I might go 2 or 3 months without playing, so I lost track of plot points and character motivations. This second go round took about 50 hours, but I did that in two weeks. It was nice to actually remember what a character was talking about when they made reference to some past event.

One thing that struck me this time was how unprofessional a lot of the teachers are at the high school the characters attend. One teacher who becomes aware that one his students has been missing for over a week. He may even know she was last seen being locked in the gym by some of the other girls. Still, rather than let anyone know, so a search could be conducted, he tells everyone she's at home, sick. I'm not sure what he told her parents. She doesn't have a great relationship with them, but surely they noticed she was gone for 10 days.

Another teacher was supposed to hold onto money collected from the student body by Student Council, but used it to catch a taxi when he missed his train. Then he "forgot" to replace the money, which lead to the Treasurer coming under suspicion. He only confessed at the point she angrily confronted him.

One of the main character's friends falls in love with a teacher. She encourages the infatuation, apparently finding it amusing or self-gratifying (as she apparently bragged about it to other teachers). Right up to the point he tells her he wants to marry her, and he's willing to move to another city entirely with her, if that's what she wants. Oh, and she was engaged to another fellow the entire time.

The protagonist also strikes up a friendship in an online game with what turns out to be one of his teachers. The height of professionalism, she spends most of her time complaining to me about other teachers, gossiping about them (the one I mentioned above, who almost had a relationship with a student? She pads her bra! Gasp!). She's also fond of passing out drunk on park benches, and of drinking to goofy excess in general (though I never saw any indication she was drunk at work, or even hung over, so she has that going for her). Oh, and it turns out she's also attracted to one of her students, though she doesn't make any outward signs of it in class.

Most of the other teachers seem OK, with their problems being limited to disorganization, or standard kookiness, things I've seen in plenty of my teachers. Somewhat strangely, the teacher for the class on magic and mysticism has his act together more than any of the others. He always seems to know what he's talking about, and to have his materials ready. Maybe his interest in those subjects makes his mind better suited to deal with the underlying effects of the Dark Hour.