Tom and the Sex-crazed High School Teachers

Special Sex Ed

Ms. Groo was a chubby special education teacher in her thirties when Tom was in high school. Most of the 2000 pupils on campus knew her simply because she taught the “retards,” as the crasser kids called them. Tom befriended a couple of these lower IQed students. He would see them walking home from school alone and would pull up along side them on his bicycle and walk and talk for a while. Some of those kids had interesting views of the world and some came from very strange families.

Anyway, back to Ms. Groo. Tom knew very little about her, but admired a teacher that would spend her day trying to drill life skills into students who required extreme patience. That is until one day--she wasn't at the school anymore. Tom soon learned that she had been fired from the school district for allegedly having sex with one of her special students.

Arrogant Charisma

The high school had a couple of theater teachers while Tom attended. One of them was Mr. Showmaker, a thirty-year old, clean cut, well-built man who had acted in some television prior to becoming a schoolteacher. He was handsome and several of the girls giggled when they gossiped about him.

Mr. Showmaker took charge of an after school martial arts club for students to work out and train with him. Tom decided to join. The club was supposed to be a place where martial arts students of different disciplines could show each other moves. Mr. Showmaker quickly changed that and made it more into a showcase for his abilities. One day, Mr. Showmaker, decked out in his karate gi, told the club members that he was very annoyed that a woman he knew who was a black belt had let her boyfriend beat her because she did not have the will to fight.

“Having a belt will do you no good if you do not know how to face a combative situation,” he said, “So, I’m going to have each of you spar with me, and you’ll learn. I don’t want anyone that I train with to be like that black belt woman.”

Tom did not like this. He came to martial arts club because he thought that the Oriental art was fascinating, not because he wanted to fight with a teacher. Tom and one of his friends often sparred for sport in his friend's back yard on a mat made out of carpets. Tom had also fought plenty of bullies throughout his public school days and it seemed to him that Showmaker was just trying to show off. Tom knew it was supposed to be only a sparring match, but he knew that he would very likely injure Showmaker in the process, and perhaps Showmaker, who was much stronger and more skilled, would then thrash him. Showmaker had the air of someone you did not mess with. An assault on his ego could result in physical harm. Tom regretted joining the club and this would be the last day he would go. He even considered leaving then and there.

Tom had never had Showmaker as a teacher, but his parents had run into him once while at the school for an Orchestra concert that Tom had performed in on the theater stage. Showmaker talked to Tom’s prim and proper mother about something, and almost said the word “sh*t,” but caught himself at the last minute. Tom had been standing nearby and his mother later commented on this.

“Mr. Showmaker almost said a bad word,” she said, “I could tell.”

Now, as Tom sat awaiting his turn to spar with the man, he recalled this conversation. It seemed to 16-year-old Tom that Showmaker had a hard time controlling himself. He recalled another time when Mr. Showmaker and Tom’s Orchestra teacher, Mr. Wirrin, started yelling at each other during class. Mr. Showmaker went into the room where the Orchestra was rehearsing and started complaining that Mr. Wirrin had left chairs and stands on Showmaker's stage after a rehearsal. He was very rude to Mr. Wirrin in front of Mr. Wirrin’s students. When he left the classroom, Mr. Wirrin turned to his Orchestra students and shook his head, “What a jerk,” he mumbled.

So, Tom sparred, or rather he blocked everything that Showmaker threw and decided to be defensive rather than aggressive. Often when he fought bullies, Tom liked to wear them down by defending. Many bullies had more powerful muscles that could seriously injure Tom if fists landed on his face, but Tom had endurance on his side and could literally be the last one able to stand. Unlike many bullies, Tom had extensive martial arts training both from classes and from drill instruction from his ex marine father. Over and over again, bullies would throw all of their conviction into the first few moments but rarely had the stamina or patience to beat someone who cooly defended and stuck only when opportunity presented. Mr. Showmaker criticized Tom for not now engaging him.

“You can’t be afraid to hit me. Don’t be like that woman and just stand there and take it.”

Tom replied, “That friend of yours, she survived, didn’t she?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I intend to survive too. I may not have struck you, but none of your strikes are getting me.” Tom knew that Showmaker was just waiting for Tom to throw a punch that would end him in an arm bar on the ground, a move that would have made the other’s awe at Showmaker’s prowess. Tom had just watched Showmaker throw one of the other club members to the ground moments before.

When Showmaker realized that sparring scrawny Tom was not going to end in his glory, he told Tom to take a seat so he could then demonstrate some moves.

Tom did not go back to the club. He believed that the teacher had a streak of narcissism in him that was difficult to respect. Several months later, he went to see the student stage production that Showmaker had worked on with his students. The main star, a sixteen-year-old, did not perform that evening. An ambulance came to the school and she was taken away. With that distraction, the play was awful. Tom learned the next day that she had had a nervous breakdown because Showmaker had allegedly been having sex with her, and that, coupled with her pending debut in front of her parents and classmates, had been too much for her to handle that night. Showmaker was forced to resign in disgrace shortly thereafter.

Tommy Should Be Held Back in First Grade

Tommy’s parents kept him home, while others his age attended Kindergarten. They taught him the alphabet and numbers. The only interaction he had with other children, were his two younger brothers. Tommy’s parents did not believe in television in the home, so he did not see Sesame Street or cartoons. Instead, they took him to work with them and explored the outdoors for recreation.

When he finally went to first grade in 1983, he was somewhat bewildered. He did what he thought he was supposed to do. He never raised his hand for permission to get a drink of water; he simply went.

This was forbidden.

From an early age, school taught children to ask permission and submit to authority. Tommy was a year late in this most important aspect of public education. His reluctance to recognize authority would follow him throughout life.

He was obedient when instructed in a course of action, but in the absence of instruction, he did his own thing. The other children, who had shared Kindergarten and television experiences, played together. Tommy played alone. The teacher observed Tommy’s odd, non-conformist behavior.

She must call his parents.

At the parent/teacher conference, the teacher learned that Tommy had not gone to Kindergarten. “If I had known that, I would not have accepted him in my class,” she said, “I think he will have to be held back a grade.”

“Absolutely not,” Tommy’s parents said, “He just has to get used to school.”

Tommy caught his stride in fourth grade. Thereafter, he was in the top one percent of his class, eventually graduating cum laude from UNLV, and then law school.

Thomas uses his non-conformism to defend clients who have not conformed to the expectations of State authority. His innocent clients often face severe punishment. The press libels, vilifies, and implies guilt, whenever the police or prosecutors serve them up a scandalous story. Without the aid of their attorney, they would have no chance against a money-based justice system.

Thomas muses, “If my parents had agreed to hold me back in first grade, I would have remained behind my class and probably never have felt the desire to excel. The school system tried to break my individuality, but my parents did not let it. Now I try to prevent the cold bureaucratic system from breaking others. Life is too short to live only for the expectations of others. Presumption of innocence is hard to maintain for clients when many believe that suspicion equals guilt. Most people think a non-conformist is guilty.”

John Galt should have been a criminal defense lawyer.

Learning Math in Public Schools of Las Vegas

Tommy was confused.

His third-grade teacher droned on and on about whole numbers and how important they were.

Tommy raised his hand shyly, “Why are they called whole numbers?”

“They are called whole numbers, Tommy, because that is what the mathematician decided they should be called.”

“But positive numbers have negative numbers. Is that why we call it whole numbers, because there are part numbers too?”

The other children in the class giggled.

“You are not yet ready to learn about that. First, you have to learn whole numbers. Your teacher next year will teach you about other numbers.”

“But…”

The bell rang for recess. The other kids taunted Tommy, “Math nerd, math nerd, Tommy is a math nerd!” Then they rushed off to play basketball without him.

Tommy did his homework, all the while confused. He memorized the concept, without understanding it fully, expecting that someday someone would explain it to him since neither his teacher nor his math book would.

Sure enough, in fifth grade, another teacher finally taught about part numbers. She called them fractions. “Fractions are also called rational numbers,” she added.

Tommy was confused. Why call them rational? If rational means sane, shouldn’t there also be crazy, or insane, numbers? Why not just call them fractions? Why the other name?

Tommy did not want the other kids to make fun of him, so he did not raise his hand. Instead, he would ask the teacher at her desk after class.

“You are not yet ready to learn about that yet,” his teacher said. “First, you have to learn fractional numbers. You’ll learn about that in the years to come. For now, just remember that fractions and rational numbers are the same thing.”

In the age before the Internet and Wikipedia, Tommy had nowhere else to turn without spending hours at the library, so Tommy waited two more years to learn about irrational numbers. His seventh grade teacher explained that irrational numbers, such as pi, could not be a ratio or a fraction. If it was this simple, why didn’t his fifth grade teacher explain it? Didn’t she know?

In seventh grade, the teacher mentioned real numbers. She said that real numbers were all numbers on the number line.

Tommy was confused.

After a long night wondering about real numbers, Tommy stood in front of his teacher’s desk, with the nagging question. “I thought numbers on the number line were called integers, whole numbers, fractions, positive numbers, and negative numbers. Why are they now also called real numbers?”

The teacher looked up at him with dead, empty eyes.

Tommy clarified, “If there are real numbers, shouldn’t there be fake numbers too?”

“Have a seat Tommy. My teacher’s guide doesn’t explain it. I think you’ll learn more about other numbers in later math classes like Trigonometry or Calculus – if you take those classes.”

Tom enjoyed the games that math presented. He continued to take math as an elective, even after the requirement ended. His teachers’ failure to explain the underlying principles left him flummoxed.

At long last, five years later, Tom learned the reason. “Real numbers are real because some numbers are imaginary,” his calculus teacher explained. Imaginary numbers are square roots of negative numbers.

If it was so simple, why couldn’t the seventh grade teacher explain it? Didn’t she know? No, she did not.

Years out of school, Thomas’s persistent pursuit of knowledge paid off. He became a successful attorney despite the constant confusion created by well-meaning, but under-prepared educators. Unfortunately, there are not enough Jaime Escalantes in the teaching universe who make math interesting, applicable to life, and instill motivation for further exploration.

Years later, while visiting Wal-Mart, the checkout clerk squinted at Thomas, “Didn’t I see you on the news last night? You’re a lawyer?”

After a few seconds, Thomas recognized one of the classmates that had called him a math nerd. “Yep, guilty,” said the attorney, “not my client, though.”

The clerk tried to scan the crackerjack box, “Ahem, the register ain’t working. Let me go get my manager.”

“It’s ok.” Thomas handed the clerk the exact change for his purchase. The clerk could not mentally calculate sales tax on a one dollar item. “I’ll see you later.”

“I need to get a manager to authorize use of another register to print a receipt.”

“No, its ok. I have somewhere to be.”

Thomas strode to the exit. A familiar old lady with dead, empty eyes raised her wrinkled hand to halt him at the door. “I need to mark your receipt, sir.”

Thomas handed her the crackerjacks he just purchased. “Nevermind, I need to get to court,” he said impatiently. He left, the store a dollar-seven short and empty handed.

On the way to his car, Thomas thought about the many years of free education that his former classmate and school teacher each had, yet they both worked at Wal-mart.

Thomas was confused.