STILL WATERS RUN DEEP…

ONCE UPON A TIME I had a teacher I did not like. Not unusual… Most of my teachers were fine or really great; but there always seems to be a few in every pot whatever the lot (teachers, co-workers, neighbors, relatives, bosses) that you simply know them as jerks.

One particular female teacher I had in high school seemed arrogant and unhelpful. She was that kind who favored those who gushed over her so they could get on her so-called good side.

As shy as I was, and not having much confidence in most things, I still was not the kind to promote myself as a bootlicker. Even then I despised phonies (remember, at this age I was an ignorant sinner.) I desired to be appreciated and receive good grades on my own true merits but never to the point of not truly earning my good grades.

So: one day this certain woman I did not like, did not respect her teaching techniques, asked the class to give her our thoughts on her teaching style… anonymously.

Beloved, one of the good things about me back in the day (when I was not righteous; but rather, a broken, lonely and suffering teenager) was that even then I was not afraid to speak my mind when asked. And as an assignment, I took it seriously. (Sometimes I’ll also have to tell you about the time I named names of kids with bad behavior because I was mad that yet another teacher was unfair.)

This particular lady teacher wanted our thoughts about her. She probably wanted pats on the back for many of the mean girls did indeed fawned over her and she lapped it up! These were the type of girls I would never want to be like, never want to hang with anyway, as shy as I was they were not the kind I could ever like. I’d rather (and still do) be alone than be with fakes, phonies, cheaters and liars. Good for me!

And this woman did a lot of wrong things in her class. While I truly wanted to learn the subject and wanted to do really well, with all her wrong leadership, I resented that she was wasting so much of my time. Listening to her go on and on with her pals who were my peers was irritating to me, very irritating.

And then one day without even asking (and of course, I didn’t pray back then) she wanted her class to write a critique of “What we thought about her class.” I did. And, I was excited to do it. She had told us we could do it anonymously. That, my friends, is for cowards. I was shy; but I was never a coward…

Even a shy and ungodly teenager can do some things right; and I did. I told her exactly how I didn’t appreciate her getting off class topic so very much. I told her I was there to learn and she was going off topic too much…

I wish I had made a copy of the class critique paper.

The next day as she walked in I could instantly see she was hot! She was mad! She was shocked! The first thing she said, and I will never forget it was: “Still waters run deep!” She didn’t even have the guts to look at me in the eye! And do you know why? Because everything I said was true. Everything she read from me pointed at her poor representation of being my teacher.

She asked. I answered! And I was more than glad enough to give her feedback: I wanted this class to be exactly what it was supposed to be.

P.S. The girls I didn’t like also were caught cheating: by me. I observed them coming in from a break with their nasty little giggles and snickers because they had been exchanging answers. They probably thought no one saw. But I did. I also decided not to tell this teacher I disliked because it really is true: they were only cheating themselves.

I wonder how these girls (now women, certainly) are doing today.