A funny story — perhaps?

When a certain English teacher called me laconic I hoped I would never see her again. Another reason why I hoped our paths would not cross was because I kept getting B+ for EVERY essay I ever handed in. It did not matter how much effort (or lack of) went into it, the grade never varied. Kerrie McKinnon ALWAYS got A–. One day we swapped names. No change at all in the grade!

About six years ago I was lined up in a queue at Canberra High waiting to see my daughter’s English teacher. And there she was — the apparition from the past — sitting at the next desk to my daughter’s teacher. Oh I felt laconic I can tell you!! (I know what it means now.) I must have looked strange because the other parents who were there asked if I was alright. I nodded. “Do you know”, they said proudly, “our daughter has that teacher here”. They pointed in ‘her’ direction. “She (their daughter) has improved so much this year. She is so consistent. She always get a B+ for every piece of work she ever hands in. Isn’t that wonderful?”

Yes, isn’t it?

Janet Pearce née Thompson

PS   Please don’t grade that story!