Just Like Old Times?

            We never stop learning, and that’s a good thing.  And sometimes we can be quite surprised by what we learned.

            Just recently, our high school class marked 45 years since graduation.  Many members of the Lexington High School Class of ’67 gathered, some with spouses, some without.

            Unfortunately, we didn’t have any of our teachers with us but we did have our principal, Joe Bedenbaugh. 

            What we learned – and what we were surprised about - was that our high school principal actually has a sense of humor.  Maybe it’s a new persona for Joe Bedenbaugh.  Then again, maybe he has had a sense of humor forever and we just didn’t know it.

            We were all scared to death of the man.  He was tall, always in a dark suit, and seemed quite formidable.

            Getting sent to the principal’s office was not a treat or a reward, of course.  No one ever bragged about making an assigned visit to see the principal.  No one ever wanted to take home a note to have a parent call the principal.  No student ever wanted to see a parent chatting with the principal at a football game or anywhere else.

            When Joe Bedenbaugh was recognized at the class reunion, he stood – still as tall as ever – and, lo and behold, he smiled!  And then he said a few funny things. 

            Could this be, was this really the same man who struck fear into our very beings in high school? 

            He told us he had attended a Newberry College reunion where someone told him he was looking more like himself than he used to!   (Go figure that one out!)

            As I ate my meal that night, someone came over to me, leaned down and said, “Mr. Bedenbaugh would like to see you.”

            Forty-five years later and, just like old times, those words still caused me to gulp.  Turns out, he just wanted to tell me he enjoys reading my weekly newspaper column, which is usually on my blog as well. 

            So, Mr. Bedenbaugh, this one’s for you! 

            And, by the way, thanks for reading.  That means we’re now up to about four regular readers.

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The Answer Was What?????

I guess it was in the 10th grade that I really learned to listen. To really, really listen.


It was an experience that taught me how to listen and helped me learn how to use words as well as how to phrase them.

Oddly enough, the class was U. S. History and the teacher was Mr. William Moses.

Mr. Moses was tall, slightly on the slim side of average; he had black hair with touches of gray and almost always wore a black suit, white dress shirt and tie. His nose held black-rimmed glasses. His smile, which seemed to be a rare thing, was slight, and he had a dry sense of humor.

Isabelle Moses, his sister, was an elementary school teacher, and his wife worked in the school office.

On irregular occasions, Mr. Moses announced pop quizzes. (Do they even have those in classrooms any more?) He would say that each student should get out one piece of paper and a pencil and that we should put all books under our desks. These were words to strike fear and trepidation into our very beings.

It wasn’t unusual for one of his quizzes to include an extremely easy question – a “gimme.” Mr. Moses included a “gimme” on this particular day, and it was the very first question.

With a monotone voice, Mr. Moses said, “Name the country that gained its independence from Great Britain as a result of the Revolutionary War in the late 1700s.”

Whew! That was truly a “gimme.” We didn’t have to respond with complete sentences, so I hurriedly wrote “U.S.”

Imagine my shock when the test was returned with a big red “X” by that first answer.

Mr. Moses explained that he had asked for the name of the country, not the abbreviation of the name of the country.

Yep, that’s when I learned to listen to exact words and to pay close attention.



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The Teacher and the Cow

Mom and Dad always told us it was important to have a sense of humor, and I agree.


But not everyone enjoys a sense of humor and not everyone has the same idea about what’s humorous.

I just happened to have a teacher in high school who didn’t share my own sense of humor.

She was a legendary teacher at Lexington High School – Miss Myrtie Harmon. She was there in the classroom for decades. In fact, she taught Mom and she taught me. I had her for biology.

Well, one day she asked how many teeth a cow has. No one answered.

She asked again. And again. And again.

Finally, Miss Myrtie said she hoped someone would find out.

The next day she asked again. And again, no one answered. She said she was certain someone must have a cow at home to check the number of teeth.

After one more exasperated request by Miss Myrtie and after enduring an uncomfortable silence for a while, I blurted out, “Well, my daddy calls my momma a cow.”

The class laughed. Miss Myrtie did not. In fact, she took me out in the hall, which was most definitely not a good thing.

By way of background, you should know that Mom’s name is Elsie. You know, as in Elsie the Cow. The Borden cow. And Miss Myrtie knew Mom’s name was Elsie.

Still, she found no humor in my comment.

She berated me. She said it would be awful and would damage my parents’ reputations if classmates went home and told their own parents that “Sherry’s daddy calls his wife a cow.” She also said Mom was one of the brightest students she had ever taught and such a comment was an insult to my mother.

After our “conversation” in the hall, Miss Myrtie Harmon put my desk in the corner of the room for the remainder of the six-week grading period.

And, to this day, I don’t know how many teeth a cow has.

 
 
 
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Oh, Mrs. Littlejohn, Where Art Thou?

I just heard one of the news guys on TV talking about a weekend event. He reported that a photographer took “nude photographs of men and women.”

So, my question is this: Were the photographs nude or were the men and women nude?

In our high school, we had some excellent English teachers. (Actually, we had top-notch teachers in several areas.) One of the exceptional English teachers was Mrs. Iva Littlejohn, a legend at Lexington High School. She was also strict and she had high expectations for her students. 

I believe Mrs. Littlejohn would agree that the newscaster should have indicated there were photographs of nude men and women, not nude photographs.

Another example of questionable usage has to do with some of those classified ads in newspapers. They can get down-right disturbing.

There’s one that runs over and over and over. And it’s no wonder. They’re looking for “part-time people.”

Now, I know some folks who might not be playing with a full deck and who might seem somewhat out of it from time to time, but they’re still full-time people. Once a person, always a person.


Those folks doin’ the hirin’ might better find a way to use full-time people in those jobs ‘cause I imagine they are having a hard time finding part-time people.

If, of course, they’re looking for full-time people to fill part-time jobs, that’s a whole different story.



Oh, Mrs. Littlejohn, the world still needs you!

PH: Utensils and Opening One's Eyes

Have you ever watched a movie twice -- and noticed something the second time that you had not seen on the first go-round?

Have you ever taken a road or route a second or third time and noticed something “new” – that, of course, had been there all along?

We often go at such a fast pace that we fail to really see things around us.

That, at least for me, is what the weekly PhotoHunt in the world of blogs is all about.

I thought about this today when Mom said she thought it was somewhat “silly.” That’s probably because she likes for me to write, write, write. I don’t do much of that on Saturdays when participating in the PhotoHunt, so that's probably why it isn't her favorite thing.

Here’s an example: I’ve lived in Summerville, SC, for about eight years. Not long ago, when the PhotoHunt theme was “yellow,” I wondered what in the world I would use on my blog. I couldn’t think of anything!

As I went on a daily walk around town – camera in hand – I saw more yellow than I had ever seen before. Yellow signs, yellow flowers, yellow lights.

In other words, this weekly little exercise opens my eyes and makes me more aware of my surroundings.

This week’s theme is “utensils.” I took a picture of some of my wooden utensils in a container and planned to use that. Not very creative.


And then, as I walked through the kitchen, I glanced at something I have owned since 1973; it’s a favorite of mine. It came from Taylor's Hardware in Lexington.

For all those years, I had noticed the man, his hands folded in prayer; the bread, the bowl of soup, the book and even his eyeglasses. Until today, I don’t think I had ever really seen the two utensils – the spoon in the soup and the knife for the bread. Well, perhaps I had seen the knife; I’m not certain. But I know I had never noticed the spoon.

Thanks to PhotoHunt, I really looked today!

To see other PhotoHunt participants, go HERE.