IMPERFECTION (Lesson learned)

by Terry 5 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Terry

  IMPERFECTION
  ______________
  My favorite teacher (Grade 9);
  Mr. McGilvray.
  He had a way. Charm, humor, intelligence, and irreverence.
  I loved the man.
  
  He'd teach a quick lesson that would linger in the mind for a long, long time.
  Even as long as...well....now.

  Allow me to tell you about it...
  ______

  Microscope on tabletop. Very sharp kitchen knife.

  "This blade is sharp and perfect for slicing. Even a mushy tomato.
  A thin page of newsprint - sliced clean through."
  
  (We watched.)
  
  

  "Did you hear me say something about the blade being 'perfect'?"
  
  (Heads nod.)
  
  

  "Okay, let me project the magnified blade onto this screen for a very close-up look."
  
  (Clicks the switch. Image projected.)
  
  

  "Just look how jagged the metal edge really is -- up close. Are you surprised?"
  
  

  (See photo below)

  "This is reality. It is ugly, isn't it? Looks like a mountain range instead of something that slices through paper. What's going on here?"
  
  

  (We all sat dumb. My hand usually went up first. Not this time.)
  
  Silence for a full minute.

  "Think about it."
  
  And that was all to the lesson that day!

  He turned off the projector and removed the microscope from the table and reached for a paperback book.

  He began reading to us (as he always loved to do).

  The book was hilarious.
  (Barefoot Boy With Cheek (Max Shulman)
  
  
  _______

  I was 15 years old.
  20 years later, I ran into my old Science teacher quite unexpectedly.
  
  "I know you!" He declared quickly.
  That warmed my heart.
  I was older and wore a beard!

  We exchanged casual conversation for a minute.
  I told the man what he meant to me. I poured it out. I simply had to do so.
  He listened and thanked me.

  Then, he closed his eyes gently and reopened them - like someone waking from a dream. He turned toward me and spoke.

  "You probably understood the lesson about imperfection. Remember?"
  
  I did remember.

  "Well, I think so."

  He lifted his eyebrows. He was inviting comment.

  "Imperfection is finding a way to complain about what is perfect."

  (Big grin)

  Lesson learned.
  ______
  
  
• 

  Acerbitous

  Great story, Terry.

  Some of my HS teachers remember me, too!

  Like that day in physics class we were studying about series and parallel electrical circuits- 1967, it was a sunny spring day

  I asked the teacher if I could do an experiment to find out if the school's bell system was a parallel circuit-- he said OK

  I pushed a chair near the bell chime and waited - the volt meter read around 24 volts when it rang to let the class out-

  I told the class I would conduct my experiment the next day.

  So, I did- about 10 minutes before the class was supposed to let out, I hooked up the power supply, set the rheostat for 24 volts and connected the alligator clips to the bell terminals

  The bells rang all through the school and all the classes let out early- the bells do not lie- haha

  I walked past the principal's office and saw him with the door open to the bell chime system, yelling to his secretary, "I don't understand how this could have happened!"

  We had a good laughed about our bonus break!

  Would you believe that not one person in the class even asked me if it was a series or parallel circuit!

  Our teacher, My Colwell was a cool guy -late 20's but not so cool, as to let me try that stunt again--
• 

  Vanderhoven7

  Cool stories.

  Mine is the opposite of cool.

  My math teacher in grade 8 was a young Jewish guy with a swagger (bravado). He demanded silence.Sadly for him, I was a bit of a troublemaker. After repeated efforts to shut me up, he shouted, "Van, Stand up!". He swaggered over to me and announced, "Van, I don't have to send you to the office!" and with his fist 5 inches from my face, he warned, "Instead, I'll take you in the hall and give you a knuckle sandwich!" Now I'm sure he was no more than 5'2'' in his stocking feet...and I just couldn't help myself from bursting out laughing. At that point he shouted, "Van, get to the office!!!" Unfortunately, laughter is contagious. I left the room in stitches, not only because he just contradicted himself, but also because the whole class was laughing as well.

  Fast forward about 7 years. I quit high-school at 15, worked for a few years; became a Christian at 17 and took courses at night. At 20, I went back to high-school as a full time student to complete my last year. When I entered the science lab for the first time...there was my older (not wiser) nemesis, Mr. Shadowitz sitting at his desk looking down at the class list. He began to read the names on the list...and as he read mine, he looked up and shouted, "Van...Oh No!" It's OK Sir, I responded, "I've changed." "Oh thank God, he sighed. He then began teaching us from his notes. Actually every class was the same; he read to us from his notes...occasionally looking up from them to see if we were all listening. We were; we were all bored speechless.
• 

  Terry

  Acerbitous
  
  Can you imagine trying that today?
  A friend and I were planning to hook up smoke-bombs to the electric circuits of the school bells on the last day of school. It never happened.
  But the very idea I would get myself into that sort of conspiracy appalls me now.
  ___________
  

  Vanderhoven7
  We had a coach in Jr. High School who was a real piece of work. A bully who liked to walk around naked inside the dressing room with his horse dick lolling about.
  He used a cricket bat to discipline me when I simply forgot to bring my gym shorts.
  ____

  
  
• 

  Acerbitous

  I just sent my old teacher a card and picture- I was surprised, after a short internet search to learn he and his wife moved from the snow belt to Florida 5 years ago and live only 100 miles from me- so maybe the wife and I will meet them for lunch soon-- he is 9 years older than me-- And his wife was my English teacher, only they weren't married at that point in time.
• 

  Terry

  My 8th grade teacher, Mrs. Green, took a special interest in me.
  A white-haired lady with spectacles, she praised what appeared to her to be an excellent memory.
  This inspired me.
  On 'Recitation Day" (students could earn extra grade points by tackling The Rime of the Ancient Mariner) I recited the entire poem.
  All 625 lines.
  The bell rang before I was finished but everybody remained at their desk.
  I finished to uproarious applause and a mad dash to next class.

  614He prayeth best, who loveth best

  615All things both great and small;

  616For the dear God who loveth us,

  617He made and loveth all.

  618The Mariner, whose eye is bright,

  619Whose beard with age is hoar,

  620Is gone: and now the Wedding-Guest

  621Turned from the bridegroom's door.

  622He went like one that hath been stunned,

  623And is of sense forlorn:

  624A sadder and a wiser man,

  625He rose the morrow morn.