The kids have been writing Greek plays for their Social Studies class this week. Since they were due today, I of course had at least two dozen kids come to me last minute begging me to read and edit their dramas, tragedies, and comedies. As I read each one, some written on wrinkled pieces of notebook paper, some typed in colored ink, some scrawled out in 30pt Apple Chancery font, I began to notice that the same three teachers were in each one: Mr. J, Ms. X, and yours truly. Often times they had me getting thrown in jail or engaging in some sort of altercation. In one of them I got hit by a truck. In another I was shot. I miraculously survived it all. It also turns out that I am the "mama" of a couple of my students. Who knew?
What struck me as even funnier, as morbid as it is, was that Ms. X got killed off in nearly every one of the plays - sometimes by me. Now before I make myself sound too terrible, let me tell you that the teachers on my hall have a lot of fun together. We are constantly giving each other a hard time... about everything... so when Ms. X found out that Mr. J and I had in fact had several love children who were currently in the 7th grade, she took every chance she got to make fun of us. And we certainly returned the favor.
Pretty soon Ms. X was becoming visibly flustered. We stopped making jokes, but at that point, she had decided she was going for broke and there was no turning back.
"That's libel!" she half-yelled.
"Who's libeling you? The kids?" I asked half smirking, half rolling my eyes.
"Yes!"
"Umm... no."
"Yes, Ms. B. That's libel. I have a Master's in journalism. I should know."
"Uh huh..."
"You're not taking me seriously?!"
"Uh-uh... especially because it's not libel. We're talking about 7th grade plays that will be seen by no one besides us. And I'm sorry to pull this card, but as long as no one is defaming your character, it's not libel."
"They are defaming my character! They're killing me off!"
"Two different things."
Now at that point I was still unsure as to whether or not this was all a big joke, but deciding it was a situation I needed to remove myself from, I casually walked out of the room, saying that "I [had] email to check or something." At the end of the day, I found out that Ms. X had reported the incident to the principal, demanding that the kids either rewrite their plays or face disciplinary action. She had also apparently been reduced to tears in front of her 6th period class after taking a poll to see how many of them had also killed her off. Over half the class raised their hands.
While I'm honestly trying to feel bad about whatever responsibility I may have had in the whole situation, I'm still more amused than anything. Maybe Ms. X has had a bad week or we accidentally struck a nerve. Maybe I just have a twisted sense of humor. In fact, come to think of it, I've been told that before. I blame my mother. Anyway... the whole situation really made my day interesting, and for the sake of saving myself from a real libel suit, I think I'll spare you the rest of my opinion on the matter. What I will say is I'm thankful for my ability to see the humor in situations like these. And I wish my colleague could do the same ;)
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