I seem to suffer from a selective Tourrette's Syndrome, which causes me to say some of the most wretched things at the most inappropriate times. This is an example of one such instance. These are written in no discernable chronological order and just surface to the fore of my memory totally unbidden.
I was called to the school to see the principal in a matter of the utmost importance. I was not told what it pertained to, only that an incident had occurred at school with my youngest son, who was a kindergartner at the time. I drove quickly to the school, after being reassured that my son was fine and no harm had come to him. It should be noted that at this time that both of my sons attended a Catholic school.
I arrived to a roomful of people. There was the principal, my son's teacher, one of the nuns and a counselor for the school system. I was told that there was an incident with another student and that the other student had tried to coax my son into a bathroom stall for reasons of a sexual nature. They all waited for my reaction and, after I was told that my son didn't follow the boy into the stall but instead went directly to the teacher, I felt relief for my son but concern for the other boy. Concern because I wondered where he had learned this behavior. We are, after all, talking about kindergartners. I opined that someone may want to see if there are any signs of abuse in the other child's life and stay focused on that.
The counselor was aghast that I wasn't concerned about my own son's frail psyche being damaged by such a horrific incident. I assured him that my boy was a little tougher than that. Then, unbidden, a truly unformed thought popped out of my mouth. Laughing, I said, "And here I thought I would only have to worry about the priests!"
Ironically, only the nun laughed while the others looked appalled.
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jojo said (2 months ago)