A Good Deed

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

The day started just like any other day. I boarded the bus for my trip to school. If you’re new to my newsletter, you can view the story titled “Driver’s Ed / Driver’s License” to see why I was taking the bus to school.

I went to my regular classes in the morning before lunch. Lunch came and I entered the cafeteria. The cafeteria was housed in a separate building away from the classrooms.

It was separated into two distinct rooms. One side held the seniors and the other side was the other classes. My high school consisted of tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grades. Everyone couldn’t wait to get over to the north side to the senior cafeteria. You could only access each room by entering from an outside door. They were not connected. There was a divider with windows in it between each room.

Once I was a senior I thought it would be great to be over there on that side. Think again! I was a shy and quiet person. I had a few friends. None of those friends ever seemed to be at the same lunch hour that I was. It was very difficult to find a place to eat. I would normally just sit down at a table with another person that I didn’t know. It was difficult. Every day I went in there nervous because I didn’t know if I would have a place to sit. One time I sat down at a table with some bullies. They told me I couldn’t sit there and started saying stuff. I can’t remember if I left the table or if I stayed. I know there were a few times when I had no choice because there was no open place for me to sit. I always brought my lunch. It was just easier for me.

Many people go to school and get bullied. I don’t know why this has to happen to kids. There are some kids that think they are hot stuff. Most of the people I got picked on by were rich kids. They like to push you around. I’ve experienced just about everything you can think of while I was going to school.

There was no end to the bullying. I would be walking down the hall carrying my books and notebooks on my left side, when someone would knock the books out of my hands and onto the floor. They would be snickering and laughing. During practice for the graduation ceremony, we were out on the football field. We were sitting down. I was sitting on my leg. They were having each row of people get up. My leg was going to sleep and I knew when my row got called I may not be able to get up. I shifted slightly so I could move my leg. One of the idiot students yelled up to me that it wasn’t my turn. I believe I yelled something back at him but I don’t remember what it was.

Most of the bullying stopped during my senior year but a few things persisted.

After lunch, you could leave the cafeteria and go outside. Some people stayed around the courtyard area. Others went to the library.

I opted for the library. It was a short walk down the outside hall and then you turned left and followed the hallway sidewalk down to the end and to the left.

You entered the library through double doors. There were two turn-stiles, one entering and one exiting. Off to the right was the check-out area. On the left was the giant bulldog sculpture. That was our mascot. Seniors would write their names on the bulldog as a memento. I never signed my name. Probably that shy thing again. Each year, they would paint over it when the next senior class arrived. Once you passed the check-out counter and turned right, you walked into the library part where all the books were. There were several tables where you could work on your homework. Two people could be sitting at a desk. There was a divider between each person, so you couldn’t see the other person. If you go into any public library, they have these set up as well.

They had a lots of racks of books. If you wanted to look something up though, you had to use the card catalog. I’m not sure if anyone remembers those but we didn’t have computers back then. The year was 1989.

If you didn’t go into the location where the books were, then you proceeded to where the magazines were. There was also an administrator’s office at the end.

There was a large display case with a bunch of magazines. I can’t remember what I was looking at but it was probably something sports-related.

I was sitting in a large leather chair with my back to the exit. I had placed my books, notebooks, and pencils under my chair out of the way. I was reading my magazine, not paying attention to anything going on around me.

A few minutes before I had to leave the library, a girl with long blonde hair approached me.

She said, “Someone just put something in your book.”

I pulled my books out and lifted the first book. I noticed something.

I said, “Ok. Thanks.”

And just like that she left. I never saw her again. They say there are guardian angels. I think she was one.

Someone had torn out the library sticker from a book. The checkout people would scan the sticker when you checked the book out. Also, if you left with an item with a sticker in it, an alarm would go off at the turn-stile exit. The alarm was very loud. I had seen students be stopped before. They would take them off to the side and find out what they were taking.

They wanted to stop me from exiting and have the alarm go off. They probably never knew that I found it.

I had the last laugh in the end.

Conclusion

In a way, I’m still the quiet and shy person I was back then. But now I’m more open because I have to be because of my work. I work with a lot of different people and must talk with them on a constant basis. So I’ve definitely opened up more now.

I think about this whenever I get frustrated or need some cheering up. I’ll always remember her. That was 34 years ago but I remember it as if it happened yesterday.

I would like to thank that girl. I never knew her name. She wasn’t in my senior class. I wish I would have talked to her more and told her thanks for being so nice and helping me out. It’s not every day that someone does the right thing.

We need more people like her.

Until next time, happy reading!

-Matt