Friday, December 4, 2015

Generous with Someone Else's Gum


It was the Friday before the Thanksgiving break, and I had an 8th grade science class to boot. Ugh, right? Well, no. Actually not.

Surprisingly, they were pretty good. Talking. But on task. It was one of those days where I didn't have too much to worry about.

Fourth period, a boy got up and started distributing sticks of gum to half the class. As they were not supposed to be eating or chewing gum in class, I warned them all to not open them and start chewing right then. But I thought nothing much of it. The class was working pretty well, and the gum distribution didn't distract the class.

Fifteen minutes later, Renee returned.

Renee had been summoned by someone (I don't pay much attention to too many details when the office calls for a student) for something. She looked at the two boys across from her and demanded her gum back.

Uh oh...

The boys denied having her gum. Well, at that point it was true. (The boy had tossed the empty gum packet.)

Yeah, I wasn't about to let that pass. I told Renee what had happened to her gum. And she was not pleased.

Again, this could have gone really, really badly. Instead, they debated the flavor of the gum. (It was mint. The boys seemed to think it was peppermint.) And Renee insisted that the boys replace the gum. Which they sort of, kind of, hinted that they might just remember to do someday.

Deep sigh.

So, that incident went into the note to the teacher. Because Renee's going to need backup if the boys then try to claim that they don't owe her a pack of gum.

17 comments:

  1. Just sitting here shaking my head!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 8th graders. I should have known something was up when he was being so generous while distributing it to everyone.

      Delete
  2. Sometimes you can't trust people with anything! Poor Renee. I hope she gets her gum.

    ReplyDelete
  3. It just continues to amaze me that they think they will get away with things like this.

    betty

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's the age. They think they invented this stuff, and they're under the impression that adults are too stupid to catch on.

      Delete
  4. Really shaking my head here. Ah, 8th grade "generosity" in action. Alana ramblinwitham.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I should have been suspicious when he was that selfless giving away all that gum. Next time...

      Delete
  5. I think those boys fancied Renee. Any excuse to get her attention perhaps?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Apparently they like negative attention, then.

      Delete
  6. This almost sounds like the old fashioned, "dipping her pony-tail in the ink-well". They may like her but , as true men of the future, are dumbasses on how to go about it.

    ReplyDelete
  7. That's a cute story. I bet the gum distributor thought it was pretty funny.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Double whammy lesson for her and the boys.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Never trust a boy when it comes to gum. Three brothers, experience, long hair.

    ReplyDelete

I appreciate your comments.

I respond to comments* via email, unless your profile email is not enabled. Then, I'll reply in the comment thread. Eventually. Probably.

*Exception: I do not respond to "what if?" comments, but I do read them all. Those questions are open to your interpretation, and I don't wish to limit your imagination by what I thought the question was supposed to be.