Monday, January 28, 2008

OCD vs. the Substitute Teacher

Before I go any further into this post, I am sure there are many people out there that have Obsessive/Compulsive Disorder (OCD) that makes their life hard, and we should all respect that.

That being said, my oldest daughter, who is almost 14, came home with a story that I felt the need to immortalize in print. Let me say beforehand, that my daughter has a VERY dry sense of humor, much like her mother. It gets old having to explain to people that you were only joking, after your serious dead-pan face doesn't immediately tell people what a wonderful sense of humor you actually have.

Okay, onward and upward we go kiddies....There was a substitute in Tiffany's favorite class last week. She finished a worksheet, and after looking at it, decided she didn't like her handwriting and wanted to do it over. Here is how the conversation went when she approached the male substitute teacher:

Tiffany: "Can I get another worksheet."

Sub: "Why? You've finished it already."

Tiffany: "Yes, but I don't like my handwriting, I'd like to redo it."

Sub: "I can read it, the handwriting is fine."

Tiffany: "Well, I don't like my handwriting, and would like to rewrite the paper. Can I have another one?"

Sub: "Do I need to send you next door? I said the paper was fine."

Tiffany: "I'm sorry if my OCD causes you problems"

Sub (with a look of mortification on his poor, naive face): "Uh, oh, oh, here, I'm sorry."

{At this point, let me point out that if Tiffany, my daughter, has OCD, it's news to me}

The class then erupts with laughter, to which Tiffany responds, supposedly with a smile on her face, "Ya'll stop laughing at me. It's not funny."

Of course the laughter continued, and Tiffany, ever the quiet and non-disruptive type, says, "I mean it guys, you're going to make me cry."

This of course, delivered with a smile, that should have told this poor man that she was merely basking in the amusement of her peers, but nooooo, substitute says in a panicked voice, "This is NOT a laughing matter. Stop laughing at her. It's nothing to laugh at."

This poor guy probably felt bad the rest of the day. Teenagers....gotta love em, cause you can't kill em.

4 comments:

Skeeter said...

Now that's a blog story! It's great :-) It's tough being a sub, but even tougher getting one I suppose. Very well done!

TerriRainer said...

Thanks Don!

How was class tonight? I was kind of waiting till the last minute to decide wether to enroll or not, and over the weekend the hubby came down with the flu.....that made my mind up, couldn't go. :(

Tell everybody I said "Hi" and that I wish I could have been there!

Terri

Skeeter said...

Will be happy to say "Hi!" to everyone. We miss you dear, you know. After once again being in the group of voters that did NOT get our genre chosen for the first story to be plotted, I had to tell Mel that the next time I take this course I'm going to be on the winning side because the 8th time is THE CHARM!

TerriRainer said...

So not fair Don!

You should have seniority, and get your say.

What genre did you vote for, and what won?