Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Hooky Playing Gone Wrong

      As most of my followers know I was a teacher for 37 years and it was all at the Middle School level. Needless to say, there were some very interesting occurrences.

      Now some of my former students are in their late fifties and early sixties. Many tales are told of old school days. We are far enough away from the time that everything is pretty funny.

     Bob was a great storyteller and I will never forget one of the stories he told.

     This took place back in the days when kids went home for lunch. Bob came back from lunch and decided he would play hooky (cut class)(skip) for the afternoon. His plan to leave the school was to go out the back door when the bell rang for kids to go the their home room for attendance. 

    As Bob was going down the hall all by himself , he noticed the Principal at the other end of the hall. He thought,"Oh, oh! I'm caught. He knows I'm skipping." But the principal didn't yell at Bob so Bob kept on going.

    Bob was on his way to spend an afternoon fishing. He thought that since the Principal had seen him that his mother would be phoned and when Bob got home he'd hear about it from his mother. When Bob came home for supper , his mother didn't say anything. Bob thought, "Maybe he was going to get away with skipping.

    So off to school in the morning and Bob was sure that the Principal would be waiting for him at the front door. Bob was not called over the intercom. "What was going on?" Everything was fine all morning. 

   Bob went home for lunch and everything was fine.

    Back to school and to home room for attendance. For some reason or other the home room teacher was not there and the Principal was taking attendance. Bob thought , "He knows I skipped. The attendance sheet shows I was absent yesterday afternoon."

    When the Principal got to Bob's name , he said,"Where were you yesterday afternoon?" Bob blurted out, "I skipped." All Bob's buddies thought he was a fool to admit that he skipped when obviously the Principal knew nothing about it. Bob's buddies knew the Principal knew nothing of Bob playing hooky. However, Bob's guilty conscience made him admit his sin.

    Without looking up the Principal calmly said, "Drop by my office after school."

    Bob said the punishment he got for skipping was insignificant compared to all the worrying he  did about getting caught.

   I've often thought about how much the Principal would laugh about this incident as he would have known nothing about the background to the story.

    Now there are just as many stories where  the students were unaware of what had gone on.

34 comments:

  1. I imagine most former teachers have a plethora of great stories like this one to tell.

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    1. I think every area has it's stories...bus drivers, cops plumbers, musicians. Even artists tell stories.

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  2. I'll have to admit that I skipped the afternoon in high school... but only once.

    One of my friends had won a car from a beauty contest held by a radio station. She asked me if I wanted to take a drive into Honolulu. We went. But do you know where? To the library! That's as naughty as I got in those days.

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    1. I can't ever remember skipping, but I probably did.

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  3. 37 years in middle school? Wow! It just really sunk in. You deserve a medal!

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    1. We had a good laugh every time bob told his story.

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  5. Now You see, I would never have skipped school. I loved school and I loved to learn new things - I was one of those kids that was always hungry to get into something new. My older brother, however; skipped school one afternoon (well several) with his buddies and they all got caught - there was calamity around the house for a day and he was punished to his room with no hot rod books, just study books, no play time, no baseball for two weeks (we were not a techy world back then). The NO BASEBALL punishment was the worst for my brother for he was the star pitcher on the high school team. He never skipped school again. I liked your story Red and I am sure you have more than a handful to tell, eh. Have a wonderful day.

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    1. Your story about your brother illustrates the incredible support we had from the parents. It's not that way anymore.

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  6. Living in a small town it was harder to hide.We left and ran into our mothers while leaving. They turned us in.

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    1. Yes, in small towns everybody knew everything that was going on.

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  7. Oh Stephen is right you probably have a huge book you could write:) B

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    1. I'm sure I could fill a book. There are many incidents that stand out and they are of a wide variety.

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  8. This is so funny! His guilty conscience (and fear of getting caught) got the best of him.

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    1. Whenever he would tell the story that was his point. He always said that was the day he grew up.

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  9. Yes, our guilty conscience will usually take care of any punishment needed. A good story, Red. I've been there. :-)

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    1. Oh, I think all of us have experienced the guilty feeling.

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  10. Ah, yes. The good old days! I thought you were going to say that Bob met the principal at the fishing hole!
    I remember a story of a teacher meeting his principal on the golf course! of course, no one told.

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    1. Now you're a great reader when you go predicting what my happen in one of my stories.

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  11. Guilt...it does get the honest ones. Never touches the 'players."

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    1. Bob always said this was he day he grew up.

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  12. That's pretty funny. I'm a former school teacher, so I can relate! I always heard: "But the dog ate my homework."

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    1. My favorite is when some little guy looks like the deer caught in the headlights and has nothing to say for himself.

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  13. I could never teach kids!

    In high school we got to choose our own courses and schedule, as long as our compulsary course were being met. The last couple of years of high school I was able to essentially always have the last period off and could leave early.

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    1. Teaching today is very difficult but when I taught it was rewarding. Smart guy to make a schedule where you can "skip" the last period.

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  14. LOL what an awesome story! Enjoy your weekend Red, thanks for sharing this, a story I can share with others if ever the need arises, naturally on guilt and feelings.

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    1. An interesting thing Bob always said is that this was the day he grew up. I've never forgotten that part.

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  15. so cute. yup, guilt will eat you up!

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    1. Oh I like that one...guilt will eat you up.

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  16. I remember that feeling well. Only I didn't get caught. Good story, Red.

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    1. You look over your shoulder for a long time.

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  17. I was always too afraid of getting in trouble so never did anything bad in school, that I remember. I would love to have had you for a teacher.

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  18. That guilt probably hurt a lot more than the punishment.

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