Today I got a certified package in the mail. My dad sent me a folder containing my school records from way back. I spent some time looking at what kind of student I was and trying in vain to remember scenes from my childhood. My memory is so bad I can’t even remember what most of my teachers looked like. We also moved a lot, so I didn’t have any friends worth mentioning until high school.
Apparently my parents had me tested for a “gifted” program when I was in 6th grade. You had to have an IQ of 130 to get in. I scored a 116 and didn’t make it. The letter my parents got contained this sentence:
“This score is below the mandated cut-off and therefore Benjamin is not exceptional and not eligible for the program at this time.”
I thought that was kind of funny. I am NOT exceptional!
Another paper I found was this (click for the large version):
So I was small and nerdy back then, and one day these two bullies sat on either side of me on the bus and picked on me the ENTIRE ride. I was close to tears the whole way trying to ignore them. At the end of the ride, I stood up and decked the guy still in the seat. His head hit the window and his nose started to bleed. That felt good, but standing right outside the window was the principal, who only saw this part of it. So of course I got in trouble and got this slip of paper which I read as, “Dear parent, please kill your son and dance on his grave.”
As I remember my parents were mostly understanding and talked with me to the principal about the incident, and it was taken care of. I must have just cried a lot, and I do remember feeling horrible about it. I didn’t make a habit of slugging kids, and I think the adults must have realized that I was the bullied, not a bully.
Leave a Reply