| When I was in the 6th grade, my teacher was Mrs. Hutchins. Tim was in Mrs. Sturgil's 6th grade room since the school officials kept us in separate homerooms ever since the 1st grade. (Gee, I just can't imagine why)! Mrs. Hutchins was a stern disciplinarian due to the fact that this was her first teaching job right after college. We all knew that she graduated from our high school and that our classmate, Norm, was her brother! We thought it was really weird to have a classmate's sister as our teacher! Norm, of course, was in Mrs. Sturgil's 6th grade room. We wondered how someone our age could have a sister that was old enough to be OUR teacher! Of course in "kid school years" time compendium this was just totally incomprehendsible for any of us. (Hmmmm, now I wonder if Norm was possibly a "twilight accident kid"??? He retired from being a prison Warden and possibly his chosen profession was due to pent up, subconscious, repressed anger and emotions about his older parents and became a "prisoner" of his emotions resulting in ....Hey!, wait a minute! I'm starting to sound like my psychiatrist in one of my sessions)! Anyway... beside being very strict with us, Mrs. Hutchins was also very eccentric (a subject I, of course, am an expert on). At least she seemed to be that way in my 6th grade mind. For one thing, she did the same thing ALL of our teachers did throughout my 12 (nearly 13) years of school. She would tell the class that she had to leave the room for awhile and that all of us were to remain QUIET! As soon as she left, we all would immediately start to chatter up a storm and the sound would rapidly build up to a louder and louder crescendo. Then, we would hear the telltale "CLICK" through the PA speaker on the wall. We all knew it had to have been a "2-way" speaker and that no doubt not only was our teacher listening, but also the principle since the control board was in his office. We always wondered then, as I still do now, what on earth did they expect when you left 32 6th graders alone in a classroom? Did they expect a deafening silence? Or the sound of a flea tip toeing across a shag carpet in a monastary? It STILL beats the heck out of me! Anyway, whenever any of us had a birthday, Mrs. Hutchins would call them up in front of the class and give them a few swats on their rear with her hand. (I sure would like to know where that silly, sadistic custom came from anyway! And on your birthday too)! Well, December 22nd finally arrived, which also was the last day of school before Christmas Vacation that year, and I was hoping she had forgotten about my birthday. BUT NO! She waited mostly all day before she finally called me to come up to the front of the class (which was the ONLY time during my whole 12 years of public chool that I was at "the head of the class" in ANYTHING). On the way up to the front I figured Tim must have squealed on me since Mrs. Sturgil never did eccentric and sadistic things like that in her class. I vividly remember her saying "Happy Birthday" to me and then drew her right arm WAY back behind her. Just as she started her hand forward aimed at my rear, she abruptly stopped and instantly KISSED ME ON MY RIGHT FACE CHEEK! WOW! Was I ever embarrassed being kissed by my teacher! I would have MUCH rather gotten the swats instead! Even with a paddle! Oh well, such is the story of my life! Unorthodoxy seems to have always been my constant companion thoughout my life! Like all my past and present psychiatrists say..."Just live with it"? HA! That's easy for THEM to say! Oh well... life goes on! |
