I began the lesson as usual. I was in one of the funny classes were I really enjoyed myself. I walked in and everyone stood up. I asked them one or two questions to get the atmosphere going.
“ARE YOU HAPPY?” I asked all of them while they still stood up.
“NO!” Most of them said in unison.
And since their mid-term exams were due in a few days, they were probably right to give that answer.
I told everyone to sit down. I plugged my laptop, connected the HDMI cable and opened my Powerpoint presentation. Right when I was about to start the lesson this girl walks in the classroom. She was late. More than 5 minutes late. Now usually I’m easy going with the students. But being late like that crossed the line a little bit. I put on a serious mien.
“Why are you late? Eh??” I told the little girl who just froze at the door in that moment.
I took a chair and put it in front of the blackboard. I told her to sit there as punishment for being late. She said “no”. I kept insisting. I explained her that it wasn’t nice that she was late. She had to sit on that chair to redeem herself and wash away the sin that she had just committed. It was a pretty easy get away to be honest. But no no no, she still wouldn’t obey.
Meanwhile, the whole class was looking at me. They had never seen me so serious like that before. In fact, I wasn’t really that serious. I was laughing in my mind. The little girl wasn’t laughing though. She still wouldn’t sit in that damn chair. So I threatened to put her name in the class catalog. Now, in Vietnam, nobody ever wants to have the name in that catalog. It’s a dark list. The parents get called and notified about their kids’ name being written there. It’s no joke, I swear. Students freak out when it comes to that catalog.
So I got the catalog and told her I’d write her name on that thing if she wouldn’t sit down on the front chair. She still wouldn’t do it! So I opened the catalog, wrote the date, put my signature on the paper and gave the little girl a final chance.
And then something happened. It was something that made me get rid of my stone cold persona. The little girl began crying. I just couldn’t keep that show going. When I see tears flowing on a little girl’s face I just can’t play the bad character anymore. Her eyes were red and her face was trembling. She looked so innocent and that innocence made her beautiful. She was genuinely cute already. But that tearful moment enhanced her feminity. That whole situation made me sensitive and compassionate. I had the song “Hard luck woman” from Kiss in my mind. Especially the first lyrics: “If never I met you, I’d never have seen you cry..”. I really didn’t expect that emotional turn of events.
I told the little girl in tears to sit down where she was supposed to sit and to relax. Meanwhile, the rest of the class was silent. They looked at me like I was some authoritarian figure. Could this be the beginning of a new era? Was I to switch to the dictator type of teacher and forego all the pleasantries that used to define our interactions until that day? Well, not really. I became relaxed once again and explained the whole class that it was never my intention to put anybody’s name in that catalog. I just told them not to be late, because it wasn’t nice. I was just making a point. I told them how much I liked that class in particular and that I’d never put their name in that catalog. They understood my point.
Throughout the lesson I kept looking at the little girl who kept crying. She was still upset. She didn’t talk to anyone. I felt bad for her. The next day I bought her sweets. She looked at me really confused. She probably thought I was insane. And maybe I was. I hope she felt better after that. She was beautiful. Especially when she cried.