FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO . . .
So we're walking back to school from swimming lessons today. It's been a long walk and to make matters worse the electrical company has been putting up new power poles. They've been this doing all week which means my students have to detour around trucks and I have to watch out for them because they are walking on the road not looking where they are going. (Men in cherry pickers fixing wires - way better then watching out for cars)
Anyway, these trucks are really annoying with their 'don't fly kites near power lines' and 'don't dig around wires' and other obvious electricity/life saving tips. Today, just to make my day better, there are these two guys standing beside the truck in their "save energy with XXXXXXX company" overalls watching the kids walk by. As the kids are going by these guys are grouching about having to detour us and the amount of work they have to do and so on.
The kid who is walking in front of me, is not really the brightest bulb that I have ever taught. Really nice kid - REALLY oblivious to the world around him. As we pass these two guys the kid turns his head, sees them, smiles a giant smile of comprehension (the kind you see when a child finally understands a concept that has been exceedingly difficult) and booms out in his too loud voice, "Have you caught that badger yet?"
The two guys look at me with horrified faces and I can tell that these guys thinks that this kid is CRAZY. One of the guys looks at this tiny kid and decides that he is gonna be nice. After all this is only a kid. So he says (not quite managing to loose the 'what the hell is this kid on' expression) "Nope, not yet kid."
The kid nods, accepting this answer at face value and we continue on. The laughter of the two electricity guys ringing out behind us. The other students are looking at this kid, looking at me and looking back at the two guys, who are still snickering, wondering how he hasn't figured out that those guys and the guy up fixing the wire on the new pole AREN'T catching badgers.
I shrug because after all everyone kinda knows that this kid is the way he is. The students around me all shrug back. It was one of those rare moments that kids have, where instead of teasing that poor bastard to death they let it go because, well, doesn't everyone have a moment like that. I nod and smile at their willingness to drop the subject and we continue on. Conversation picks up again and we discuss the latest Lego kits and what soccer team has a game this week.
We walk about ten minutes more, passing the new power poles and blatantly not snickering, when that kid stops dead in his tracks and flips around to look at me. His face was white and I was worried that he might be sick or something. Instead he says to me, twisting his swim towel tightly in his hands, "Teacher, I might be wrong but, I don't think they were catching badgers!"
That awful cartoon moment where everyone sort of falls down from the stupidity of a comment has finally happened to me.
And no, there aren't any badgers.