2nd Grade Idols

I attended most of my school years in Texas. Except kindergarten in Arizona and 2nd grade in Utah. I remember Kindergarten mostly because the school looked like a sombrero. The only thing missing was the chips and salsa.

My education there was standard I guess. You know the usual; learning Spanish, wishing I was in the other Kindergarten class (they had a 2-story play place!), learning about the fire alarm (a fellow classmate pulled the big red handle…stupid kid!) and bugging my brother who was in the classroom across from mine. His teacher eventually moved him. He was distracting me from learning Spanish!

But I really can’t compare it to anything else. By the time I was in second grade, I had already moved from Arizona, Texas and was living in Utah. That one year in Utah would help me understand that I was always going to be surrounded by doe heads. I just became more aware of it at that age, state and school.

Apparently kids didn’t like me. Well one boy specifically. During reading, I stood up to go to my desk and get my book. When I came back, this doe headed boy pulled the chair out from under me. Can you believe it? I fell hard and hit my head on a desk! My teacher picked me up and took me over to her desk carrying me like a baby. I was torn between being embarrassed at how she reacted and how much I cried. But either way, that boy is probably married with 9 kids. That’s what you get for teasing me.

Another kid was always sick. This kid missed like half the school year. We didn’t miss him because he always smelled like vomit. Nobody wanted to sit next to his desk because it smelled so bad. Vomit boy! His mom was also our class mom. She didn’t smell like vomit though…he did.

Another classmate was kinda pathetic. She came to school with a hair brush stuck in her hair. She couldn’t get it out and her mom couldn’t get it out, but she sent her to school anyway. The rest of her hair was all messy. Like she had just started brushing and then it happened. I can just imagine that conversation. “Ouch! Mom, I can’t get it out!” “Sorry, no time, you’ll miss your bus.” “But I can’t go to school like this (crying)!” “It’s your own fault if you ain’t known how to brush your hair by now!”

Our teacher tried to take it out. No luck. Every girl tried to help her including me. I just tugged on it til her head couldn’t take it anymore, but that brush was so tangled up in her hair, she’d have to cut it out. She spent the rest of the day with a brush in her hair. Somehow her mom got it out for the next school day. I didn’t ask how. I felt bad for pulling on it so hard.

See, 2nd grade was when I became aware of myself around others. I thought, “I don’t want to be like these idiots” and I’m not like them. I’ve never pulled a chair out from underneath anyone. I’ve uh, NEVER smelled like vomit…. never ever. I don’t think I’ve even thrown up especially not from drinking. And I’ve never had a hair brush stuck in my hair. I’ve had ugly hair cuts, but that’s not the same as a hair brush. But I’ve learned my lesson. I wonder if that girl went into beauty school. Maybe by then she’d learn how to brush her own hair. On second thought, let’s hope she’s not. I’d like to see an adult walking around with a brush stuck in her hair. I’d pull a chair out from someone to see that!

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