The Boy Who Cried...Not Wolf, But...Just Plain Cried

In the public school system the people are represented by two separate groups, yet equally important groups. The faculty who teach the students and the students who learn from the teachers. This is their story. *Cue Law and Order introduction music*

Once upon a time there was a little third grader whose name shall not be revealed here. During the warm months, he liked to play outside at recess; swing on swings, run around (well, more like stagger around), and throw rubber from the playground pit at other kids.

Once upon a time there was a dame whose name shall be revealed here: Shannon. She worked at an elementary school with the boy who shall not be named. All the kids in Miss Shannon's class loved her. Loved, loved, loved...except when Shannon gave them instructions that they did not want to complete...which was most of the time...

During the colder months (such as now), the boy whose name shall not be revealed would do anything in his power to not go outside to recess. Often, to get out of playing outside, he would say, "Teacher, I need bathroom." Fair enough. Being the nice teacher that Miss Shannon is, she would take this little boy to the bathroom. But, this little boy was not being very nice, you see. For he was just saying he needed to go to the bathroom so that he wouldn't have to go outside. When Miss Shannon would take him to the bathroom, he would just go stand in a stall. Sometimes, even, when he didn't feel like putting in the effort needed to walk to the stall, he would just sit on the bathroom floor.

This was not very considerate to Miss Shannon. She had other children she needed to tend to and did not want to spend her valuable time waiting in the hall while the little boy pretended to "go". If she were to wait for him to actually "go", she could've been waiting in the hall for hours. This is why it was nice very nice of the little boy to lie to her.

Miss Shannon and her coworkers were getting tired of taking the boy (whose name shall not be revealed) to the bathroom. They all noticed that the only time he would say he needed the bathroom was when it was time to go outside. So, Shannon and her coworkers made a pact--that if the boy whose name isn't mentioned (here) says he needs to use the bathroom right before/during recess, then they shouldn't give in to him. After all, why should he have everything catered to him while the other kids are obeying?

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Today was a cold kind of day. You can guess what that means. As Shannon and her coworker took the kids out to recess for them to PLAY and let their energy out, along comes the little boy. Holding his crotch. "Teacher, I need bathroom." Shannon looked to her coworker and commented on how the boy has not tried this tactic for at least three days. Her coworker responds with how he mostly only does it on cloudy days. Shannon and her coworker look at each other, amused, that this little boy thinks that after all this time, he doesn't realize that Shannon and her coworker have caught on to his mischievousness. "He must think we're really stupid," they snicker to each other. "No, go play, [the boy's name here]". Then the little boy started to cry...like every other time he's been told no in his all-too-similar-schemes. Miss Shannon and her coworker ignore him. Eventually he goes back to the playground and does whatever it is that he likes to do.

Two minutes later, he comes back to Miss Shannon and her coworker. This time, though, there's a subtle difference in his appearance. His pants are soaked. Front and back, up and down his tiny legs. Shannon and her coworker look at each other in disbelief. "Maybe he slid down a wet slide or sat in a puddle..." Shannon says in denial. Shannon checks the playground. Yes, the slide is wet, but not as wet as the boy's pants. Shannon and her coworker exchange glances with I can't believe he was telling the truth. Shannon and her coworker also exchanged laughs. Not evil laughs, you see, because Shannon and her coworker are nice to children. More like, laughing at the irony.

But most of all, they were laughing, because when the boy came up to them with his soaked pants in the cold of November, he was happy. He didn't even care that his pants were wet. All he cared about was that the sky had just released a tiny amount of snowflakes onto the playground. "Teacher, it's snowing," he said with a beaming smile. Now that's a true statement.

Moral of the story: Don't cry wolf. You will most likely end up in a tangle of webs (I guess wolves and spiders are somehow intertwined??)...or your own soiled clothes.

Okay, Shannon wasn't really laughing the most that the boy didn't have a care in the world in wet pants--most of all, she was really laughing at the fact that just a few minutes before "the incident", she and her coworker were talking to each other about how this boy must think they're really dumb. Well, if he didn't really think they were dumb before, now he reeeeeaaaaalllllllly must think they're dumb.

...and isn't it funny that he was so excited when it started to snow? Make up your mind, kid. You shouldn't want to stay inside when it's a bit chilly outside and then when you're outside get excited over snow. The irony of it all!