As a sixth grader, my class took a trip to the un-air-conditioned, broken-windowed middle school in downtown Macon that we would all soon feed into. Those of us who were in gifted classes were separated and taken to observe an advanced humanities class after lunch. My "shadow day" experience had been mostly positively up until this point, but as I stood in line to enter the classroom, I was jerked out of line by a large, unfamiliar woman who, in an angry tone, asked me if I had "a problem." As an eleven-year old who was already beginning to experience symptoms of generalized anxiety, I was understandably horrified. I stammered: "Nn...nnn...nooo. I'm sorry, I don't have a problem," pleading in terror and confusion. In response, she leaned in, and said, "Well, you're going to have one!" I was absolutely petrified - I shook my head, hurried into the classroom and sat down without saying another word. "Anxious" cannot begin to describe the way I felt, and although I ended up having this teacher the next year, I never learned what had inspired that terrifying encounter, other than some cruel joke or bizarre intimidation technique. "I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center." -Kurt Vonnegut
Apr 27, 2011
Shadow Day
As a sixth grader, my class took a trip to the un-air-conditioned, broken-windowed middle school in downtown Macon that we would all soon feed into. Those of us who were in gifted classes were separated and taken to observe an advanced humanities class after lunch. My "shadow day" experience had been mostly positively up until this point, but as I stood in line to enter the classroom, I was jerked out of line by a large, unfamiliar woman who, in an angry tone, asked me if I had "a problem." As an eleven-year old who was already beginning to experience symptoms of generalized anxiety, I was understandably horrified. I stammered: "Nn...nnn...nooo. I'm sorry, I don't have a problem," pleading in terror and confusion. In response, she leaned in, and said, "Well, you're going to have one!" I was absolutely petrified - I shook my head, hurried into the classroom and sat down without saying another word. "Anxious" cannot begin to describe the way I felt, and although I ended up having this teacher the next year, I never learned what had inspired that terrifying encounter, other than some cruel joke or bizarre intimidation technique.
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haha, so youre problem was that you didnt know why she asked you if you had a problem. this is akin to the scene in the matrix when the oracle tells Neo not to worry about breaking the vase before he actually does and his response being to turn and accidentally break the vase.
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