Overheard

Since returning to summer school this week after my week-long excursion to Little Rock, I've overheard some conversations that caused me to laugh:

* One of the girls in my class walked in yesterday morning and just looked a little different than normal. There was something about her hair that had changed but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Giving up, I asked her what was different. Seeming annoyed, she responded, "Um, I brushed it this morning." Unfortunately the new hairstyle didn't come complete with a more glowing personality.

* During our 15 minute snack time yesterday I overheard one boy say to one of his classmates, "My dad is rich." When the boy responded by asking where he worked, he was told that his dad worked at Enterprise Rent-A-Car. The boy expounded on this by saying "Ya he always just takes one of the nice cars for the weekend and when our van needs gas he just drives it over to work in the middle of the night and fills it up. Sometimes he'll take us out to lunch and if he doesn't have enough money he can just take some out of the cash register." Um, young Connor, that's what we call stealing from the workplace, punishable by 5-8 years in prison. I hope that $5 footlong from Subway was worth it.

* When the students get there for breakfast each morning they are asked to sit at one of our class' two assigned tables. To help keep our kids straight there are laminated signs in the middle of the table with my last name and my teaching partner's last name. A second grader walked in this morning and just floated from table to table, seemingly trying to not to have to sit down at his table until the last possible moment. When he got to our table he looked at the sign with a confused look on his face. Turning to me he said "Ritchason? Isn't that a black name?" I just nodded and told him my mom was black, which seemed to satisfy him as he moved on to the next table.