....................... Is pencil poking and a little whack the conditions that merit a suspension from elementary school? Is this mutual combat? It hardly compared to a member of the Bloods and a member of the Crypts having a showdown behind the gym at lunchtime. There sat the suspension papers and nothing seemed so clear cut anymore.
Clearly, there was a disconnect between the two versions, so in the spirit of cooperative discipline I sat them down together in an effort to reach the truth. “Keith, would you share with me one more time what happened in the class today with Dara.” Over the years I had learned that the consistency of truth always wins. Those students who were fudging reality nearly always had a hard time remembering the facts when asked to repeat them. Only the toughest of the tough kids could lie as if it were the truth. Keith’s story remained consistent, “I poked her with my pencil and she hit me.”
Dara exploded with an excitement that I had not yet seen. Her eyes doubled in size, her expression spread across her face and she popped out of her seat as if it had a spring installed in it. “Mrs. Boles, wait wait…” Dara loudly exclaimed with an insistence that cried with desperation. “Principal Boles, listen to meeeeeee!” she whaled. “I have the better, gooder version of the truth!”
I took a deep breath to keep myself from bursting into laughter. I glanced at the suspension papers that still sat on my desk and knew that they would be heading straight for the shredder.
Composed and internally laughing hysterically, I stoically asked Dara to tell me her “…better, gooder version of the truth…”
I shredded and I laughed and laughed. I think even Mr. Potato Head was chuckling.
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