communists in space

Saturday night in the entry-way of WalMart a red-haired teen-age guy said Hello to me; he had his girlfriend with him -- she had edgily-styled dark hair & strong make-up. The guy asked me, "Remember me? From ninth grade?"

He was one of the students I got to see every day for three weeks, in March of 07, in the special study hall for students who needed extra help to get current with their school-work. I substituted for the assistant teacher, with the main teacher there every day. (That wouldn't have been the ideal class for me to handle alone...)

In the last three years I've had spontaneous encounters with students, similar to the one Sat. night. Like most of the others kids, this one asked, "Why didn't you come back?"

(Told him I needed 40 hours, and finally was able to get full-time job.)
He stood there, looking at me, and not saying anything for a moment -- I realized he wanted to have conversation but didn't know how. So -- asked him what he's doing, etc. He's graduating this week, and going to work construction with his dad.

I thanked him for remembering me.
It's been three years since I was his "sub" -- three years ago is like yesterday to me, but I think at his age, 17 or 18, three years is a long time. It amazes me when these kids remember me.

(In the fall of the presidential election, a teenage girl at the bank recognized me and said such nice things: "We miss having you as our sub." She said -- I don't know, something like -- "Cause you're funny and you always crack jokes." And -- "We talk about you sometimes."

Pretty sweet.
I was honored.
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One of the most fun days subbing in the high school was when I had to go in for the Science teacher -- and I'm not good at science.
They had moon stuff. Craters; Neil Armstrong; I don't know.

They were supposed to sit there and read their chapter.
Sitting quietly and reading.
When they've got a sub.
"Good-luck-with-that," as they say.

So in the moment I got an idea: I told them about the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union. Kennedy and Kruschev, and the competition between our countries in the ideological area. Cold War; Communism; Cuba; Bay of Pigs; Missile Crisis; and how the contest in space exploration was an extension of our competition for world influence.

The students mostly just sat and looked at me, their expressions betraying no particular thought or attitude. (I think it's the "being cool" thing.) At the time, I was a little let down, or -- not let down, but somehow I wanted more -- God, what did I expect, "spirited discussion"? I think you have to be a really experienced, trained teacher to get that. I found that the best I was going to see was non-chaos and absence of complaining. Learned to feel rewarded with those.

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