It's been real. And it's been fun. But it hasn't been..
real fun.
That saying was one of the gems I was left with by my middle school science/social studies teacher. Ms. Marthadene Howe. Hilarious, southern woman. She would always talk about the South, being from Kentucky, I think it was. But she was smart Southern. Quick as a whip. She'd slap you full of gems for your head and you'd just have to sit there and think about them for a minute. She was absolutely my favorite teacher until I hit high school. But then.. I think it's a tie between her and my high school Philosophy teacher.
Smart, smart woman. 'Had to love her. After you got over your fear of her. She's one of those people that, because they seem so strong and unfaltering and, well, powerful.. that they have this stigma of being feared by others. Maybe. In other words, they won't take any crap. If you're being stupid, you're being stupid. She's not going to baby you or try to be "understanding."
She's the one that I learned the concept of being self-sufficient from. Every day in class, she would tell you how you have to take care of yourself and learn to look for ways to solve your problems for yourself. You gotta be on the ball. You can't just sit there, being dumb, and ask, "Where are the microscopes?" for the fourth time.
But.. when I think of being self-sufficient now, I think of her.
At the same time, once you get over being dumb and fearful of these people, you learn that they are absolutely the funniest, smartest, most interesting people you could possibly meet. And they're intriguing. And because they are sharp and won't take any crap, they get a lot of respect.
I dunno. That's just the way I see it.
The only reason I started thinking about all this was because I just walked out of my last class for Summer Semester A. That Organization & Management class was hell. But.. you develop a degree of closeness between people who you have to participate and work with together so much in class. And, I swear, as I was walking off, those words at the top were playing through my head.
And then I thought about how I should've said them out loud in class before I walked out the door. They'd be like, "You bastard." And I'd be like, "Damn straight." Or something like that. :p
LJ