In my last post I admitted that I had no idea that the Micro Manager had such a collection of hankies. I got some ribbing because I didn't know that the handkerchiefs were in the house. That's okay as I'm not at all materially oriented.
However , some of the comments got me thinking about other areas of my life and what I may be missing.
Now I was a middle school teacher for 37 years. (You haven't heard that line for a long while.) I know that there were many things that went on in the classroom that I didn't ever get to know about.
However, I'm friends on an adult basis with many former students and sometimes we share some tremendous laughs about things that went on. There were many near misses of getting caught.
One story I'll never forget is from Bob who I never taught. Bob was my daughter's neighbor so many times I sat out on the deck with Bob.
Bob was a great story teller. There was usually a lesson or moral to his story.
One day in Middle School Bob decided he didn't want to go to school in the afternoon. He planned his afternoon off very carefully. He would go back to school after the noon lunch break. He would make sure that he was seen but would leave before attendance was taken. When the bell rang to go to home room Bob headed for the exit. To has shock and horror the principal was standing at the far end of the hallway. Just the two of them in that long hallway.
Well Bob thought , "He's seen me so I'm caught ." Bob kept on going without a shout from the Principal. Then Bob thought, "He'll phone my Mom and when I get home for supper I'll be in trouble." So Bob took his afternoon off but with some worries. Suppertime came and his Mom said nothing.
Well, Bob thought maybe I didn't get caught skipping class. Then Bob began to worry that when he got to school the next morning that his name would be called to go to the office. Next morning? Bob was not called to the office. Bob was beginning to think that he got a way with skipping class.
For some reason the Principal was in Bob's home room taking attendance. When the Principal got to Bob's name and saw an absent for the afternoon before, he asked Bob , "Where were you yesterday afternoon?" Bob said, I blurted out, "I skipped.!" Bob said he doesn't know why he said he skipped to this day. It just came out of his mouth.
The Principal calmly said, "Drop into my office before you go home."
Now Bob's buddies razzed him for admitting that he skipped when he could have got away with it.
Bob was allowed to worry all afternoon.
He visited the Principal after school and was given a few afternoon detentions.
Bob was still worried about his Mom finding out. His Mom was not phoned.
Bob likes to think about how miserable an afternoon off school could be.
Bob joined the Air Force and was paymaster for most of the time.
This story made me laugh. It seems after all of Bob's planning his great afternoon off turned out to be fraught with worries.
ReplyDeletethe worry is the part he likes about his own story.
DeleteWhen my oldest was about 15 he spent an evening in a park "playing soccer". That same weekend there was a police operation targeting underage drinking. I remember my mum telling me about the operations and how the parents didnt know what their kids were doing.
ReplyDeleteWhen my boy was about 17 he wrote about that night for school and gave me the piece to read. It was the first I knew that he was out drinking and hiding from the cops behind someone's rubbish bin!
Well, I guess he got it off his chest so he could quit worrying about it.
DeleteBob's mother must have been a very scary woman... but perhaps not as scary as the infamous Micro Manager! Aaaaagghhh!
ReplyDeleteBob's Mom was one of the nicest ladies you were going to meet. Her husband died unexpectedly and she was left with six kids.
DeleteSorry if my attempt at humour went "off piste" Red.
DeleteI love your stories! You must tell the boat story, OK?!
ReplyDeleteThanks.
DeleteWe took off and barely got a few blocks awaybefore passing our mothers going the opposite ways. Mine called the school and made sure they knew we were gone. EEEk!
ReplyDeleteSometimes the lessons we learn are hard.
DeleteHi Red, We could fill up a book with these stories from school days. This is a good one.
ReplyDeleteIf you were on a personal relationship with kids you heard all kinds of stuff.
DeleteI must decline from admitting to anything out of concern for self incrimination! :)
ReplyDeleteOh! Oh!
DeleteGreat story - and perhaps the wisest thing the principal could have done: let him fret until the whole experience was ruined!
ReplyDeleteGood eye! Bob learned that there were people out to help him and that they cared.
DeleteI never skipped like that, one of the reasons why is that our schools were very remote and hard to move along to go "home". If you skipped, you paid with your own feet
ReplyDeleteBob went fishing that day!
DeleteHehehe...poor Bob! He really learned a lesson that day :)
ReplyDeleteKey word you use is learned.
DeleteOh that Bob and his big mouth!
ReplyDeleteYes, he still can't figure that one out.
DeleteGuilt has a way of spoiling your fun.
ReplyDeleteThat's very true.
DeleteHis guilt was probably a lot worse than the punishment the headmaster doled out.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree that it was made into a memory he wouldn't forget just by telling on himself! :-)
ReplyDeleteIsn't it funny how skipping school is supposed to be fun, but it turns out not worth all the stress and worry. I guess we all had to learn the hard way.
ReplyDeleteThat was a great story Red.
ReplyDeleteI had a bit of a "ditching" problem in middle school myself. If you are interested, I'm leaving a link here to my eighth grade experience. You might find it interesting, or maybe terrifying (as a teacher). If not, it's no problem! http://patricktillett.blogspot.com/2009/08/flunking-8th-grade.html
All of us probably have a story or two that turned out like that. I had a worrying day off from school myself. In my case a neighbor saw me and she was friends with my mother. She never mentioned seeing me but I did enough worrying to not do it again. :)
ReplyDeleteThis was such a fun story. I played hooky from a few classes myself in high school one day. My mother never knew until I told her decades later.
ReplyDelete