3rd Grade.

Where I learned to structure compliments, and force people to work together.

I subbed for two weeks at a notorious school; one day I was there a guy was killed in a rolling drug deal: he died at the wheel of his car while the chaser fired off 33 rounds of 9mm at, and into, him. The car rammed six teachers’ cars in the parking lot. Luckily, I rode my bike that day. The worst part was the lockdown process: trapped in the school for two hours with all those kids, after school was supposed to be over. God.

I had a girl fall asleep in the front row; the class was so… ‘challenging’… I didn’t notice. Until she woke up screaming and wet her pants, right directly in front of me. I almost jumped out of my skin. She was coated in sweat and shaking so hard her teeth were chattering. The other girls helped her up, I gave two 7-year-old friends passes to the bathroom, and they took her to clean up and redress her (she had a package of two(!) sets of replacement undies and pants that got sent to school with her), and tried to get on with ‘teaching’ anyone anything.

I smoothed right over everything, but at the end of my little ‘tour’, one of the proudest moments of my life was that girl hugging my waist and telling me she would miss me.