Pushovers & Expectations

"My expectations on other people..I double them on myself"            James Brown

Mrs. Dugan was cool.  Not the typical hipster, young & happenin' acquired kinda cool. Nope, she was just born cool.  Created from the type of universal collision that must only happen once in a million years or so. Clearly that had to be the case, how else could such an old broad rock slim fit polyester pants & a matching polyester button up blouse with an over sized bow no less & still pull off the cool? She did it, and on the daily.  Wealthy beyond any of our 6th Grade wildest dreams, it was not uncommon to see huge oil tanker trucks bearing her family name streaming down the highway just outside our 2nd story class window. I always thought it fascinating to see them in the background while she was in the midst of a class lecture; like a huge moving billboard advertising her very existence as a brand for success. I often wondered why someone like Mrs. Dugan chose to spend her days with a bunch of bratty 6th graders.  Clearly she could have been gallivanting across France or sipping tea somewhere with royalty. She just had that air about her. Intelligence & brassy wit, Mrs. Dugan was no pushover.    It seemed to me that somewhere along the way Mrs. Dugan must have decided to make it her lifetime ambition to turn large groups of country kids into kids with big plans.  I felt a positive force of strength from her & so I made it a point to listen closely whenever she would speak. At the beginning of each month she placed scenic photos side by side above the chalkboard, probably 30 or more.  When we arrived in the morning we were to put our things away, take out a clean sheet of paper & write one entire page describing a story or a scenario taking place in one of the scenic photos.  "If I can't pick out the specific photo from your description?  Then you fail the assignment.  The quicker & more easily I am able to fully identify the photo from the scenario you are describing?  The higher your grade".  What an amazing concept, I thought.. "ingenious idea!"  I set out to blow her mind.  I wanted her to discover my scenario photo faster than any other 6th grader ever.  Writing & rewriting I worked diligently to use as many descriptive words as possible in order to make it easier for Mrs. Dugan to find my proverbial story needle in a haystack.  But, each time I received my grade, I was disappointed.  A-, B, B-, C in red pen slashes across my beautiful stories.  "What do I smell?" she would write.  "What do I hear?" in cursive lettering along the margin lines... "Why do I want to be here?" "What makes this so unusual?"  I viewed those red squiggly letters as angry red blotches across my cheery, happy paper & as sad as it made me?  It also made me that much more determined to reach an A+. I quickly obtained a Thesaurus & carried it to class. I searched for new, thought provoking words as I painstakingly orchestrated my morning paper.  And even though I tried with all my might?  I never rose above an A-.
On the day before summer vacation she returned the last paper she would ever grade of mine. Written in the margin in her signature cursive red ink were the words  "To receive an A+ in writing one must be flawless.  Flawless does not exist, but we must always strive for it's attainment.   Enjoy your summer & write on!"

Nope. Never a pushover.
I think Mrs. Dugan may have been a badass before the word badass existed.

WRITE ON.

Hepburn Hugs & Ric Ocasek Dreams,

Birdee Bow