Post #2187061

I've told this story before and I'll tell it again. 4th grade Teacher of the Year winner and current sitting member of the school board Mrs. S. had a strict rule when lining up after recess: "Straight line, no talking, no touching." The bell would ring, and we'd all run to our respective, numbered spots on the playground, in a straight line, without talking, and certainly not touching, one another. Then, Mrs. S. would walk out to us, and we'd recite the line: "Straight line, no talking, no touching." And she'd lead us inside. One day, returning from recess, the kid in front of me, Joe, was crying while standing on his number. Foolishly, I set my hand on his shoulder, and asked, "Are you alright?" Mrs. S. arrived just in time to rectify the situation. I watched as she strode up to me, staring daggers into my soul, and I yanked my hand off of my fellow student's shoulder, but the damage was done. Towering over me, inches away, she shouts to the class, "Class, what is the rule?" "Straight line, no talking, no touching." "Papalonian, what is the last part?" "No touching." "No... Touching." I received my first and only citation for the rest of my elementary school years. Ever thankful will I be for learning the lesson that empathy (towards someone I didn't even like) shall never be tolerated when the **rules** forbid it.