Once a slimeball, always a slimeball, I suppose…
2 minute read
November 8, 2007, 7:38 PM
Some people never change, I suppose. When I was in seventh grade, my homeroom teacher and I did NOT get along. He was a bit of a jerk back then, and told little seventh graders to work interpersonal problems out themselves and not even so much as assist in the process. I am convinced that he did that because it was easier to let these little children who don’t know any better come to blows, because then, by letting an issue boil over rather than actually having to deal with the issue at hand, he could just pull both students apart and send them to the office, and not have to so much as get his hands dirty. And that would be that.
Now fast forward to 2007. As you know, my mother now teaches in the middle school that I once attended. My former seventh grade homeroom teacher is now an assistant principal at another middle school in the same county. And Mom was at that particular middle school for something, and ran into him. He mentioned to Mom that he’d seen me recently. Mom gave him this puzzled look, and asked where he’d seen me. He said, “Wal-Mart.” Busted. Mom enlightened him, as it’s now been seven months since I left Wal-Mart. She said, “Ben works in Washington now.”
According to Mom, you should have seen the look on his face when she told him that. And I don’t think it was a look of surprise that I had finally gotten a real job, either. It was the look of surprise when he realized he needed a little salt to go with that foot. Since you realize that first of all, he was caught in the middle of a lie, and secondly, because he was caught in that lie, the real purpose of his conversation was revealed. He wasn’t making neutral conversation. He was trying to take a cheap shot at my expense, making fun of the fact that I was at Wal-Mart (or so he thought). And so rather than getting a few yuks at my expense, he showed that despite the passage of 13 years since I was a student of his, he’s still a jerk. Some people never change.
In fact, I remember the last time I saw him. It was in 2003, when I worked at the Staunton Wal-Mart, right before Christmas. He never went shopping in Waynesboro – at least not when I was there.
Still, I’m pleased that Mom basically got the last laugh on that one, and let the air out of him. *pop* *hisssssssssss* Moms are so awesome, aren’t they?
Song: Theme to Car Talk. Due to the trip, I burned through all my Randi Rhodes by Tuesday, so yesterday coming home from my trip, and then today on my regular commute, I've been squandering several perfectly good hours listening to Car Talk. I love that show.
Quote: All in all, the whole thing makes me feel good. Mom got to brag about her little boy, and a slimeball basically got what was coming to him.
Categories: Middle school, Some people