Teaching The Real Lesson
I had a teacher back in high school who on the first day told us, in fact almost begged us, to talk to him if we ever needed help. He basically told the class that there were at least five kids in our class living in poverty and probably more dealing with some kind of awful circumstance. He said that each of our lives is more important than anything he needs to teach from the social studies textbook.
He also added that he doesn’t want to see any more kids flunk classes because you’re “too busy watching your mom and making sure she doesn’t overdose,” or “going to work after school because your family can’t pay the bills.” I’ll never forget the shock on the class’ faces because the area I lived in had half the kids driving BMWs to school and the other half waiting in line at the food bank to eat.
I remember little from school, but I never forgot that man’s words. Luckily, I ran into him recently at a restaurant. I politely and discreetly thanked him for that lesson, then paid for his and his partner’s meals discreetly. I will continue to take his words to heart by taking a little deeper of a look at the people I meet and remembering that there’s always two sides to every story.