And now what???

I was once a high school graduate

     I graduated from Lake View High School in Chicago.  It could be the oldest high school in the state, it was built in 1886.  My mother and her sisters and brothers, my two brothers, my cousins....all of us went to Lake View.
     It was not easy.   I had to walk to school every day.  And walking that half block in the rain and snow was sometimes difficult.
     I also had some of the worst teachers in education.  Ever.
     Mrs. L taught geography.   It was a course college bound seniors took  mainly to boost GPA the last year.
     She used geography books from 1948.....I swear!  There was one set of books.  When a class was over, you left the book on the desk for the next class.
     There was also a workbook that we had to complete, plus a term paper, and I think some regular assignments.
     I was not a good student, but then again, she was not a good teacher.
     She only had two dresses.  She was about 90 years old and a candidate for weight induced diabetes.  She waddled.  And every day, at the beginning of class, she would send Miss Vicky down to the cafeteria for a piece of cake, generally yellow cake with white frosting.  Then she would eat it in front of the class, sometimes getting frosting on various parts of her dress, or face.
     When she was absent, we speculated it was to wash her dresses.
     This was a year long class and over Christmas break, custodians refinished the desk tops:  Sanded, varnished, cleaned off all the dirty words.
     One day after  break, we were working and she actually got up and waddled around the room.  As she waddled, she got visibly mad, then madder, then fuming.
     Obviously and openly upset, she sat down with her arms folded and tried to bore through us with her x ray vision piggy eyes.
      Miss Vicky was the one who asked.
      "Miss L., what is wrong?  You look mad."
      The teacher continued to stare, then answered.  "I don't think you are being nice.  I don't like that you have to advertise that I have a piece of cake in class.  It's not nice to tell everyone I have cake."
       We were confused.  We had no idea what she was talking about and became convinced she had finally flipped.
     Miss Vicky asked again, "Miss L., what do you mean?"
      Still fuming, Miss L. answered, "Just because I have cake doesn't mean you have to advertise it.  These desks were cleaned over vacation and now several of you have written 'L eats it' on them and I don't think you have to tell everyone I have cake."
      We did not know how to respond.  Some of us laughed, some were stunned she did not know the x-rated meaning behind the message.
     I know she did not like me.  And to be fair, I was a bit of a behavior issue.
     One day we were reading about the ancient Greek cultures when she looked at me and said, "You, Terry, what's a Greek urn."
      I turned to Connie, who had a last name so long it sounded like a bazooka going off when you said it.  Connie happened to be Greek.  Everyone knew that.
     "Hey, Connie, " I said, not too quietly, "How much does your dad make every week?  Miss L. is asking me, and I have no idea."
     That was the day I learned that straws sometimes break camels backs.  Even heavy set camels.
     Tomorrow...the rest of the story.