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Pastimes : Don't Ask Rambi -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Gauguin who wrote (43901)	12/23/1999 4:25:00 PM
From: Ilaine	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 71178

What I remember, and I don't promise it's Third Grade, but it's close, is drinking ice-cold milk from the little cartons with a straw, and the wonderful billowing yeast rolls that they made fresh every day in the cafeteria. And the chopped spinach that tasted exactly like one would imagine grass would taste, so that when the custodian mowed the lawns, people would say "we must be having spinach today." And the sound the chain that the flag was hoisted on made when the wind blew and it clanged against the flagpole, all day long on a windy day. And the smell of chalk and ditto paper. And lots of warm bodies all jammed into one room. I also remember being terribly bored because the lessons were spoonfed, very slowly. And being told by the teacher not to raise my hand anymore, give someone else a chance. And the hideous searing embarrassment when I made a mistake (infrequent!), and the other kids smirked at me. I remember in the first grade we were supposed to pair off in couples to walk together, not sure where, to the bathroom? To lunch? But it was a permanent assignment, that I remember. And Paula Gaddis was my best friend because her daddy and my daddy were in dental school together and were good friends. And I was supposed to raise my hand when they called her name, to be a couple with her. But they called Wanda somebody or other, and I wasn't paying attention, I thought they said Paula, and I raised my hand. And Wanda was someone that nobody liked because her brother had accidentally stuck her in the eye with a knife and she only had one eye. And she was so thrilled that I picked her that I couldn't back out of it, without hating myself. And Paula never forgave me, and wouldn't be my friend anymore. And she hung out with the popular kids, and I became the champion of the underdog. I think it started right there and then. Due to my usual lack of attention. I could also talk about the store windows on Canal Street at Christmastime, but I don't really remember them, just that they were full of all sorts of wonderful toys like toy trains that ran around on tracks all day and all night, and enormous teddy bears dressed like toy soldiers, and beautiful dolls that were as big as small children, but dressed up like women, perfectly made up. I always craved a Madame Olga doll, but there was no way my family could afford one. My mother would take us on the bus down to Canal street and we'd walk along and look in the store windows and daydream about the beautiful toys. They always had fake snow, too, which is the only snow I ever saw til we moved here.