What Could be Worse?

What could be worse than being shy?

It was 1963, and I was in the eighth grade. At that time, I was very shy and terribly self-conscious, mostly because of my thick bi-focal glasses.

Like a lot of girls at that age, besides being shy, I also felt really homely. When I was in the eighth grade in 1963, the last thing I wanted to do was draw attention to myself.

Right after lunch, my first class was English. I had always loved English, but the teacher, Ms. Dooley, was a short, nasty, vile old woman. Her face was frozen in a permanent scowl with lips pursed like she’d been sucking lemons. Her voice was sharp and shrill as if it could shatter glass.

Ms. Dooley had a lot of rules, and they were proudly posted on the wall next to the chalkboard — God help you, if you broke any of them.

· No gum chewing.

· No talking.

· All eyes to the front.

· Do not be late, or you will spend class time standing in the hall.

· No eating in class.

· Stay in your seat.

· Go to the restroom before class.

I could understand rules. Rules didn’t bother me. I was so damn shy that I always followed the rules —I was too afraid NOT to.

She was reading a poem to us that day and as homework, we were to commit it to memory. The next day, some of us would be called on to recite it to the class. The rest would write the poem word for word and turn it in.

Suddenly, mid-sentence, she stopped talking. She picked up her chalk and drew a small circle on the chalkboard. Then she scooted the metal trash can with her foot, stopped it directly under the chalk circle, and turned around.

(Oh no! She was pointing at ME!)

“Catherine! Come here!”

(Oh no —my gum! I had forgotten to spit out my gum after lunch!)

“What is that in your mouth? Are you chewing … GUM?”

“Yes, Ma’am, I’m sorry. I forgot.”

“Take the gum out of your mouth. Put it on your nose. Now, stand in the waste basket and put your nose in the circle on the board.

Maybe now you will think twice before entering this classroom chewing GUM!”

What could be worse than standing in a trash can with gum on my nose and my nose in a chalk circle on the blackboard?

God help me, having every eye in the entire room staring at … me. Embarrassed and mortified, I wanted to shrink to the size of a grasshopper and just disappear ...

(Where are the flying monkeys? Will someone please throw a bucket of water and melt her? It works on TV …)

-*-

(P.S. That was such a long time ago. I left shy behind when I was a sophomore in high school and I got contacts. NO more thick glasses).

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