When i was in high school, i alway had a few books going. There were no audiobooks WAY back in the 1980's so i carried my choices around with me along with all my schoolbooks. (Also before tablets)
I was not a good student. I did just enough to get by. After skipping most of my freshman year and having to go to summer school (which i paid for) i knew i had to at the very LEAST show up for each class. That alone would pass me.
I was a sophomore, and i took a history course about the history of England. I thought i'd like all the kings and queens - but once i realized i had to learn dates, and people all had the same damn names.....i checked out. I loved listening to my teacher talk during class - it was story time. But i hated taking notes then, and nothing stuck. I failed every test, so i would write smart ass answers hoping my wit would pass me. It didn't.
At the end of the semester, as i was taking a quiz, Mr. Mulconory passed by my desk and picked up the book i was reading. It was a book of poems by Dylan Thomas. I had a fascination with Death. Not in a "i want to kill people" way, but a "how does Death fit into life" kind of way. This fell into line with my serial killer fascination, but in a more normal way. I was more concerned with the people left behind.
But i digress. He picked up my book, looked at it, then put it back down. Then he told me to see him after class.
When the bell rang, he pulled me aside and basically reemed me. Told me i was lazy, put forth no effort and it was a waste of my brain. He told me anyone who is reading Dylan in high school of their own free will was too damn smart to throw my education away. He was mad. He was red in the face. He made an impression.
No one had ever insinuated i was smart. I just read a lot of books. This man, this grown up, said i was smart. And i never forget that, or him. I did not pass his class. HOWEVER, i did better in all my classses after that. I put effort in. During my senior year of highschool i got straight A's. (Thats because a counselor at Central University told me i should go to community college because i wasn't their kind of student)
I remembered THAT comment when i graduated from College Magna Cum Laude. Suck it Central. Granted, i was an adult, had two children and a husband, but i DID get my degree.
I can never understand why adults say the shittiest things to kids regarding their intelligence. All it takes is one person to make a kid realize they might be able to achieve. It's not that hard.
All this because i went to the bookstore at work today to buy a pack of gum and see what he had for logic puzzles. I like Matt, the bookstore guy. He's always super friendly and we always chitchat about books. Today, as always, he accused me of waiting too long to visit. We chatted. At one point he said to me "When you bought "The Art of War" (by Sun Tzu) I knew you were a real reader.
I laughed and told him i bought the book as a gift for my son - the look on his face, and then i said "i have my own copy already"......lolololol.
Books have a way of holding memories, not just when you read them. Books speak for you. When i go to someones home and they have bookshelves, with books i've read, i KNOW we are going to be good friends. The funny thing is not a lot of my friends read! And i've never seen a man i date read a book either.
Interesting.
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