31 Days, 31 Memories - Day 24
While we're on the subject...
24. High School
I had P. again senior year for a Journalism elective. He had each of us write down what we cared about most; then, in true P. fashion, he chose people at random to confess what they'd put on paper. Of course, he called on me. I'd had a hard time choosing something, and really had wanted to put down "I care about people liking me." But that had sounded too childish (if only I'd had Lupin for moral support back then), and at the last moment I said "I care about people respecting me."
P. paused, then turned to a sullen-looking kid slouched at his desk on the other side of the room. I was slightly afraid of this boy, Joe, a year younger but tough and confident, blond, tattooed, a football player. (P. would later demonstrate his maddening sense of humor in pairing the two of us up for our unit on peer interviews and profile-writing.) Joe's answer had been a defiant "I care about my mother."
"Do you believe her?" P. asked.
"No," Joe replied.
To this day, I wonder whether they would have reacted differently if I'd said what I really meant.
24. High School
I had P. again senior year for a Journalism elective. He had each of us write down what we cared about most; then, in true P. fashion, he chose people at random to confess what they'd put on paper. Of course, he called on me. I'd had a hard time choosing something, and really had wanted to put down "I care about people liking me." But that had sounded too childish (if only I'd had Lupin for moral support back then), and at the last moment I said "I care about people respecting me."
P. paused, then turned to a sullen-looking kid slouched at his desk on the other side of the room. I was slightly afraid of this boy, Joe, a year younger but tough and confident, blond, tattooed, a football player. (P. would later demonstrate his maddening sense of humor in pairing the two of us up for our unit on peer interviews and profile-writing.) Joe's answer had been a defiant "I care about my mother."
"Do you believe her?" P. asked.
"No," Joe replied.
To this day, I wonder whether they would have reacted differently if I'd said what I really meant.