Sunday, April 28, 2013

Stuff My Third Grade Teacher Taught Me

Just reflecting on Mr. Cadella's valuable social lessons which I was taught way way back in 1979. I know it was a different age, but these were lessons powerful lessons and  I'm glad I learned them before Mr. C passed away.

  • "Having a discussion over disagreements isn't in-fighting, you idiot!"
  • "Not talking about things that make you uncomfortable is stupid, you idiot!"
  • "Only idiots make excuses. I'm sorry, what was your excuse again?"
  • "You're not the only one who earned their way into the third grade, you idiot!"
  • "It's not the umps' fault if you're the one and swung and missed, you idiot!"
  • "Don't be a jerk to someone who's trying be your friend, you idiot!"
  • "If you think you have all the answers here, then you're an even bigger idiot then I thought, you idiot!"
  • "No, moron, your friends won't always like the same board games as you. Are you going to stop hanging out with them, idiot?"
  • "Do your homework before you question me, you idiot!"
Yeah, ol' Mr. C would probably be wrapped up on charges and fired if he taught today. But 30 years ago, he was the perfect example of effective. Of course, that was back in a different age.

4 comments:

  1. My third grade teacher taught me to work with my friends and be nice to them, complement when they do something well. A little pat on the back goes along way. My 3rd grade teacher told me its ok to disagree, but always remember your friends. No one has all the answers and listening is more important than talking

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    1. Ha! That's priceless!!
      Because mine told me that an open, honest discussion could never be a bad thing, unless it was made it out look like a bad thing by someone else...
      ...just before he called us all idiots.
      That for the comment

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  2. Friends stick together, even when they disagree- don't need my 3rd grade teacher to know that. Name calling is terrible and no teacher I ever met tolerated it.

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    1. Hey Anonymous, really. thanks for the comment. One thing I'm known for is that I don't attack my friends, even when they attack me. I will, however, set them straight if needs be. And when they need to be reminded that discussion isn't "infighting", well then they need to be set straight.

      Take my softball team, for instance. Last week, we played the best team in the league to extra innings and wound up losing only 14-13. There were no hard feelings. No one was upset, and everyone was flying high. After the game, the second baseman mentioned..in passing.. to the center fielder that a pull through the hole back in the third inning might have kicked our runner to third, instead of second (where he wound up on a pop-fly sacrifice). Well, that started off a whole tirade by the center fielder about how if he only had more base-runners, we would have won the whole game and about how he shouldn't be blamed for losing it..which was crazy because no one was blaming him at all......until of course he started to be a jerk about a simple thing like whether to try for a common sense ground ball every now and then. See, then we all had to set him straight (and straight he was set!).

      But that had nothing to do with not sticking him.

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