Distant memories

[Gordon Maney]

It has been suggested at times that I have had difficulty with authority. My first memory of that stems from art class in elementary school. Recall that we spent all day in the same room; the art teacher came to see us.

Her name was Mrs. Long. She was very tall, thin, a little severe as I recall, and did I mention that she was very tall? She towered above us.

The day I remember is one where she brought books containing pictures of dinosaurs. We were to make pencil drawings of dinosaurs. I found that interesting and thought it was a great idea.

The other part of her plan I didn't care for quite so much. We were supposed to take water paint, dribbling it onto the paper, and then blow it so it made lines across the drawing. I didn't want to do that because I was really happy with the dinosaur I had just drawn, and thought it would ruin it to pour paint on it like that. In a word, I said no. I refused to do it without considering the political ramifications.

This upset Mrs. Long because she thought I was being defiant. I don't think I had even a grasp of the concept of defiant at the time, I just knew fundamentally that I didn't want to ruin my drawing. I was really pleased with it.

Our conflict ran its course over a period of several minutes, at which point she marched me down to the main office and deposited me directly in the principal's office, where she proceeded to explain how I was not cooperating. He turned his chair around and began lecturing me about how I was both wrong *and* bad.

This is where life may have first gone wrong for me because I didn't relent. I said I like my drawing, I think it's real good, and I don't want to ruin it by pouring paint on it.

I don't remember exactly how the rest of the conversation went, but it ended up with me back in the room with Mrs. Long, pouring paint on my dinosaur at her direction. At that point I didn't care anymore.

I can't say that at that age I grasped the concept of idealism either, but that experience shattered something for me. After that I was not so sure that all teachers were kind and good.

Funny what we remember.

[HWooldridge]

Not one of my memories but related to school and authority figures...my youngest son (who is now 24) was a model student in early elementary and middle school - perfect attendance since kindergarten and all A's until this happened...

In the 6th grade, another boy who dealt drugs gave him a joint at recess. My son put it in his pocket (because he still wanted to be cool) then threw it away a short time later. A girl saw him toss it in the trash and reported it to a teacher. My son and the "dealer" were hauled in to the principal. My son 'fessed up and told his story - while the other kid denied everything and walked away - guess which one got suspended? My son told me that was the day he lost all trust in adults. He fully realized that it was an error to accept the joint but it was also an easy decision for the school - shoot the kid who told the truth. Fast forward a few years and big surprise - the "dealer" is now in jail for...dealing drugs!

I typically raised my kids to take your licks for bad decisions but I went to bat for him this time and it was a pretty frustrating experience to deal with a zero tolerance bureaucracy. My wife taught middle school for several years and she quit the profession she loved because of the overall loss of common sense in daily decision making.

My son's grades and attendance dropped off afterwards and he really didn't regain interest until late high school. Fortunately, he has moved on and now enjoys a lucrative career with no apparent ill effects from the experience.

[Doc Dave]

My first grade teacher was a lot like Gordon's art teacher. However I unfortunately had her all day every day.
She was severe and ruled with intimidation and by humiliating the kids to make them behave. For some reason I was one of the kids she tended to pick on.

I think that in some professions, like elementary teacher or police officer, if someone has a "control freak" tendency or issue with power, it can become a very bad thing as that particular job can let it expand.

My brother is a retired police officer and does not have that type of personality, but I have known cops that do.

As an adult I have met some elementary teachers who are great people, but I have met some others on the other end of the spectrum...

[QuantumJo]

One day during summer recess 7th grade, I received a phone call from my 2nd grade teacher Ms. Britten. She was my first crush on an adult. She had long straight red hair, almost to her butt, and a slender hour glass figure. To this day I still have a fondness for redheads. I was surprised to hear from her. She asked me how I was doing in school. I told her that I failed 7th grade and had to repeat the year. She went on to tell me that she had completed her masters in education and was reviewing her students performance from previous years. She informed me that after reviewing my file that I should have been placed in an advanced learning environment for 3rd grade but she was unaware of it at the time. She also encouraged me to do well in school because I was a very bright student (her words not mine). That was a bitter pill to swallow especially after failing the 7th grade.

For the remainder of high school I did very poorly and was placed in a “slow learners” class. I eventually did graduate at the age of 20. It was not until my last year of school that I was told that I am dyslexic and that is what contributed to my poor performance in school. It wasn’t until my mid 30’s that I re-found my love for science. I read as many books as I could including geology, chemistry, biology and all things related to physics. I find it amazing how stuff works on the very large and very small scale. I don’t have regret about many things in my life. Not receiving a good education in public school is one of them.

[Kevin Mienke]

It has been suggested at times that I have had difficulty with authority. My first memory of that stems from art class in elementary school. Recall that we spent all day in the same room; the art teacher came to see us.

Her name was Mrs. Long. She was very tall, thin, a little severe as I recall, and did I mention that she was very tall? She towered above us.

The day I remember is one where she brought books containing pictures of dinosaurs. We were to make pencil drawings of dinosaurs. I found that interesting and thought it was a great idea.

The other part of her plan I didn't care for quite so much. We were supposed to take water paint, dribbling it onto the paper, and then blow it so it made lines across the drawing. I didn't want to do that because I was really happy with the dinosaur I had just drawn, and thought it would ruin it to pour paint on it like that. In a word, I said no. I refused to do it without considering the political ramifications.

This upset Mrs. Long because she thought I was being defiant. I don't think I had even a grasp of the concept of defiant at the time, I just knew fundamentally that I didn't want to ruin my drawing. I was really pleased with it.

Our conflict ran its course over a period of several minutes, at which point she marched me down to the main office and deposited me directly in the principal's office, where she proceeded to explain how I was not cooperating. He turned his chair around and began lecturing me about how I was both wrong *and* bad.

This is where life may have first gone wrong for me because I didn't relent. I said I like my drawing, I think it's real good, and I don't want to ruin it by pouring paint on it.

I don't remember exactly how the rest of the conversation went, but it ended up with me back in the room with Mrs. Long, pouring paint on my dinosaur at her direction. At that point I didn't care anymore.

I can't say that at that age I grasped the concept of idealism either, but that experience shattered something for me. After that I was not so sure that all teachers were kind and good.

Funny what we remember.

What we have here is an elementary school student who has been paying attention and a schoolteacher who hasn't. It’s not that uncommon. There are plenty of 5-year-old kids running around who have a better understanding of things than the 50-year-old grumblers who haven’t been paying attention in life. Those grumblers come in the form of schoolteachers, politicians, corporate executives, and just about any kind of authority figure you could imagine.

I believe a strong measure of what we know and learn comes from the act of paying attention. To me paying attention means to be heedful of what we see with our own eyes and letting ourselves be guided by what we experience in our own lives. It’s ok to listen to, and draw information from other people and it’s beneficial to read as much as we can, but experience is the great multiplier of knowledge, but...only if we’re paying attention.

Some folks go through decades without really paying attention and thusly reach their twilight years without having gained much wisdom and/or knowledge.

Others pay attention to everything. They see things. They do things. They experience things. Accordingly, they become focused. They’re able to understand what others can’t. They’re able to recognize and solve problems. They’re able to figure things out, discern right from wrong, and make judgment calls based on what they’ve seen and done. They can begin to do this at a very young age.

I don’t think it’s wrong for that person, even in elementary school, to challenge authority. The act of paying attention earned him that privilege.

[Hobcobble]

Gordon,
Which dinosaur did you draw?....

John

[Gordon Maney]

Gordon,
Which dinosaur did you draw?....

John

I had to look it up. I didn't know the name at the time.

Dimetrodon

[NNICKB]

When I was in about fifth grade I was given a punishment, which consisted of writing the sentence "I must not talk," 100 times. I do not remember the circumstances, but I do remember thinking the punishment was unjust. Perhaps there were other kids talking, perhaps I had something important to say, or maybe I wasn't even talking at all. I just don't remember. I do remember that I didn't like the teacher very much. As kids we are pretty good judges of character, something not all of us take into adulthood.

I plotted revenge. My father was an admissions officer at a small local college. Part of his job was to administer tests. On Saturday mornings, he sometimes would take my brothers and me to work with him, and have us sharpen pencils for the students to use to fill out the tests. Most of this work was done by hand crank sharpeners, no doubt to keep us busy, but Dad had a fancy electric one he would let us use once in awhile.

Anyway, in our house, there was always a pretty good supply of half-used, yellow, No. 2 pencils. So, after school that day, I snuck into my Dad's workshop, selected a scrap piece of wood about the size and shape of a yardstick, and cut myself a piece about 12 inches long. I then picked out a drill bit that was the same diameter as a pencil, and proceeded to neatly drill 25 evenly spaced holes into the stick. Into each of these holes went a pencil. With this device, I was able to write "I must not talk," 25 times, in one fluid movement.

As I was completing the assignment, Dad happened to wander into the shop. He was a pretty smart man, and with one glance he knew exactly what was going on. Not one to condone any disrespect of authority, particularly where school was concerned, he gave me a pretty disgusted look. At the same time, there was something in his eyes that betrayed a hint of great amusement. He left the room without saying a word.

The next day, I triumphantly turned in the assignment. The beauty of it, of course, was that the handwriting on each line was absolutely identical. The teacher simply glanced at it, looked at me, and said calmly, "I don't know how you did it, but I am not accepting it." And that was that.

And so, I learned a valuable lesson that day. When dealing with teachers, cops, building inspectors, and other bureaucrats, you can't beat them at their game. It is best to just fly under the radar...

[TommyDodge]

As usual I appreciate seeing Kevin post on here, and really like what he and Nick had to say. I have a life-long habit of observing, and then stating my opinion in the manner of Harry Truman.
I taught my 2 kids 30+ years ago to respect authority. Today however I don't believe I would do the same thing. I believe I would teach them to show respect when it is earned, not just because. However I would not advocate for them to dis-respect either, without good reason.
My biggest problem is that when I like or do not like something, or someone, I am completely unable to hide it. So I don't play poker

[Gordon Maney]

As usual I appreciate seeing Kevin post on here, and really like what he and Nick had to say. I have a life-long habit of observing, and then stating my opinion in the manner of Harry Truman.
I taught my 2 kids 30+ years ago to respect authority. Today however I don't believe I would do the same thing. I believe I would teach them to show respect when it is earned, not just because. However I would not advocate for them to dis-respect either, without good reason.
My biggest problem is that when I like or do not like something, or someone, I am completely unable to hide it. So I don't play poker

That reminds me about a story about a dog. Lots of people like to talk about their dog being smart.

As the story goes, it was said that this dog was not very smart. The reason was that although the dog was able to play poker, he wasn't very smart because every time he got a good hand he would wag his tail.

[QuantumJo]

I taught my 2 kids 30+ years ago to respect authority. Today however I don't believe I would do the same thing.

When it comes to giving my daughter the tools that she'll need in life, I favor critical thinking over blind faith. I have taught her to respect people that have earned my respect. Her educators, family members and her friends. As she grows and learns on her own, she will be better able to ascertain who to respect and who not to. Throwing a blanket over a group of people to respect, e.g. “your elders” doesn't fly with me. After all, many of her elders aren’t worthy of her respect.

[DrPepper]

Good thread...

True, when I was a freshman in High School, I almost got a 3 day suspension. Lucky Mr.Connors had mercy on us and gave us another chance.
Sophmore year I went down and got a job as office guard, for Mr.Connors. Never had any trouble with the office again. After a while the side benefit was people that would usually make your life tough...left me alone. High school wasn't bad.
DrPepper