Yesterday, I read a tale with my middle schoolers called The Wive’s Story. It is written by Ursula K. Le Guin, and it’s about a female wolf who falls in love with a werewolf. However, she has no idea that he’s actually half a man until her angry sister eventually rips the poor fucker’s throat out.
One girl
said, “That’s a very strange piece of writing.”
Another
female said, “I really liked it.”
I nodded. “I
figured you would. Ursula was a real strident feminist, and this particular
work is all about girl power.”
The first
girl wrinkled her nose. “I’m not a feminist. Those women in America are crazy.”
I smiled at
her. “This tale also has racial overtones. Notice the color of the dude. He’s a
white guy who is guilty of both oppression and cultural appropriation.”
She shook
her head. “I just don’t see it.”
“Of course
you do. You simply have to look harder. The evil white man tries to break into
a cultural circle that is foreign to him. He does this through seduction and
emotional manipulation. But his heart is full of malice, and his motivations
are base and self-serving.”
She closed
the book with a big bang. “Now I hate the story. Thanks a lot, Mr. Jack Woodd.”
Everybody
laughed.
Later that
day, another teacher used my room to teach his math class. He pulled my
projection screen all the way down, and the damn thing wouldn’t go back up. Imagine
a window shade. You’re only supposed to pull it down halfway. If you go all the
way, it ends up getting stuck.
Needless to
say, I was fit to be tied. My face remained placid, but my heart was a cauldron
of burning anger.
He looked at
me sheepishly. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what I’ve done wrong.”
“Not a
problem. Next time, you’ll do better.”
“I have an
appointment, and I fear I have to leave you with this pile of shit in your lap.”
“OK. I’ll
take care of it.”
I’m not
mechanically inclined, so it took me about an hour to fix the fucking thing.
Eventually, I had to climb on top of a desk to jamb my fat fingers into the
contraption. I finally found the lever which activated the spring. But this
kind of shit happens all the time in life. Therefore, I must learn to stop
overreacting. Big fucking deal, right? If it breaks, so what? It’s not like I
actually own the fucking thing.
I eventually
got home at 6 p.m. Rice-Boy Larry was in his room banging away on his computer.
I said, “I
don’t feel like cooking tonight. Let’s go to a restaurant.”
“Where? The
chicken house again?”
I nodded. “Why
not? It’s right across the street.”
So we had
bird and beer for dinner. Well, I had beer, and he drank Seven-Up. I stuffed a
fuckload of poultry into my mouth like it was going out of style. In fact, I made
a real pig of myself.
I pointed at
my son to lend gravity to my words. “Get on the internet and order me a ton of
sausage. I also want French bread.”
“Can I get
some new headphones?”
I shrugged. “Sure.
Sounds good to me.”
The total came to fifty bucks. So my items should all be delivered to my door by today or tomorrow afternoon.
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(Give my message board a try.)
Hi Jack-
ReplyDeleteTrust me, it could be worse. Really. I am a massive overreacter but my personal circumstances have made me realize, it just ain’t worth it any more. In the grand scheme of things, it’s not that big of a deal. It’s not easy to relax, especially if you’re in the habit of freaking out, but it is what it is, I guess.
I gotta know, what’s your zodiac sign? Lol I put a lot of stock into that mumbo jumbo, it’s served me well in life. I’d guess you’re a Gemini, or maybe a Pisces? But I’ve been wrong before. Anyway, try and relax a little, if you can.
-Sunflower 🌻
I try not to mess with zodiac signs. The last thing I need to do is conjure up some evil demon to make my miserable life even worse. Ha, ha, ha.
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