Jake and Evan in the same class? I should have seen this coming.
They didn't want to do the math worksheet (two-step algebra problems with fractions). Too easy. I reminded them that any work completed would help them get math credits. They need something like 20 math credits to graduate.
Jake explained that he didn't want to graduate. When he turns 17 1/2, he's going to drop out. Then he intends to become a bum. (If I believed any of this, I might have been more concerned.)
Evan then said he wanted to be a bum, too. Jake and Evan congratulated each other, and they promised to share a box under the freeway.
Jake told us of his future bum plans. He planned to beg for change outside the local McDonald's. As soon as he got enough, he'd go inside and buy something. Then he'd go back outside and repeat the process.
Someone (it might have been me) pointed out that it gets cold outside during the winter. It's supposed to get really cold (for us) this weekend. That didn't bother Jake. He said he'd pair up with a female bum.
Once Jake had exhausted the bum thing, he had another story to tell. I asked if it involved math. (At this point, I knew getting them on task was probably pointless, but I had to try nonetheless.) Jake said it did. I knew if he got math into the story he'd be stretching for it, but I knew that I wasn't going to be able to stop him. (Jake can spin a story.)
Jake was at a drug store. Some woman asked him for change. He gave her a couple dollars. She was grateful, and she told a sob story about not having money and Christmas was coming and she had children... A couple minutes later, Jake walked away and the woman drove away. She saw him on the street and called him over to her car. She asked for change.
Jake told the woman that he had just given her change. She was a bit surprised. She told him that "you all look the same". Jake wondered what she was on that would make her short-term memory go like that. I didn't have an answer for him.
That boy needs a blog. I told him he should write these stories down. He didn't see my point.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
5 comments:
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.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Loved this story. My son, who is now 33, recently started a blog and we blog back and forth. He is a really good writer and has the stories in him. Write it down for him and keep it. That's how I got my first book, my folder full of things Cory said to me as a child.It morphed into a book.
ReplyDeleteI aspired to be a bum when I was a kid. What stinks now days is that you can't really ride the rails with a bindle anymore.
ReplyDeleteHi - fellow crusader here to say hi and follow!
ReplyDeleteMy daughter also mentions going to live in a box. I think there's too much pressure on out teenagers these days!
Rogue-Now, if they had been talking about wanting to see the country and not being tied down, I would have been all for it. But they wanted to live in a box under the freeway. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteSusanna-There's too much pressure on some teenagers. These two boys? Too much pressure isn't their problem.
I'm sorry your daughter feels such pressure. It must be hard for her.
I love this story! Something like what happened to Jake with that woman happened to my Grandma...except it was a young guy and it was super creepy!!
ReplyDeleteIt's FREEZING where I am right now. They've labelled this weekend in all of BC to be a Deep Freeze. AWESOME .....