Once, in fourth grade, and outside of school hours or property, yes. I used God’s name in vain with initials. Never having heard that at home, I must have heard it elsewhere because when someone called me a SOB, (& I sure did not know what that stood for) I added a G in front of it and said if I was the first, they were the second. They reported to Ms. Arny Robinson (our fourth grade teacher) that I had used the four initials in reference to them. Apparently, they didn’t tell her they had referred to me as the first. She made me stay in the cloak room at recess for a week during recess. That lesson has never left me. It makes me cringe for anyone to use God’s name in vain. That was a valuable lesson.
In ninth grade, the home-ec teacher was in her first year of teaching (& she retired from Gordo High). Daddy and Mother gave her a ride to Guin when we were going to Pa’s and Ma’s house so she could catch a Greyhound Bus. There was not a Greyhound route through Gordo. I thought Ms. Cooley and I were friends. I had always been on friendly and respectful terms with my teachers. One trip, our electrical system in the car caught fire. We had several gallon jars filled with various vegetables that had been prepared for cooking with water added to keep the vegetables fresh. Daddy was using the water from a jar to put out the fire. Ms. Cooley kept yelling at Daddy to “Get my clothes out of the car” with no regard that not only HER clothes, but everything else in the car AND the car was what Daddy was trying to save. Daddy Bill (without stopping his efforts to put out the fire) ,”I’ll get your damn clothes when I get the fire out”. He extinguished the fire, we continued our trip, dropped her off at her bus station and continued on our way.
Next Wednesday: I walk into Home-ec. I am early, which is my habit, so I can visit with my ‘friend’. I am greeted with, “You are excused from my class until you apologize for what you said to me yesterday.” “What did I say?”, I asked. “You know what you said and you can apologize now. Go to the office and see Mr. Gibbs. He is expecting you.” I went to the office not knowing what was up because I thought and thought and could not imagine my having said anything to offend Ms. Cooley. Mr. Gibbs said I could not go to ANY class as I was being suspended until I apologized to her. Well, I asked what I had said and got the same answer she had given me. So...when I went home and told Mother and Daddy, they were astounded that she would falsely accuse me and Daddy said she’d had her last ride with us anywhere because they knew I had not said anything rude to her. The next day when he came home, Daddy said he knew exactly what I had said, NOTHING. She was angry at me because of what HE had said to her when she was yelling like a banshee to get her luggage out of the car when it was on fire the Saturday before. I finally said, “If I offended you, I am sorry and I would still like to know what I said”. With that kind of apology, I was allowed back in school. Since I was teachers’ aid in almost all of my other classes, I was glad to get back to typing test-stencils and grading papers.
That is the only two times I was ever in trouble at school. I DO recall one incident that I might have gotten into trouble and did not. Mrs. Durrett taught chemistry. I was not her aid and had to really study HARD to make a passing grade. I made a 100 on (I think) a semester exam. She marked off points for my not dotting an “i” where she thought I should have. I told her, “If you are going to teach English, you need to go to the other end of the school. The English room is down there.” Oh, yes, my loud mouth could have gotten me in a LOT of trouble had I not USUALLY had enough sense to keep it SHUT.
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