What happened to that one kid who always slept in your class? [I Am A 90s Kid]
Grade 7.
He slept partly because he didn’t expect to be doing any work. I sat in front of him and knew he was hiding behind me. I puffed myself up to conceal him as best I could.
Even on tests and exams, he didn’t even put his name on the paper. It remained blank until collection. He didn’t put his name or anything else on handouts either. His notebook was blank.
After a while the teachers treated him as though he was stupid. Then they treated him as though he wasn’t there.
He slept. He got older. Things didn’t change.
That was decades ago.
I saw him at a wedding a few years ago. He remembered me trying to hide him, and we laughed about this. I told him I was a high school teacher now and he laughed until tears formed.
He said that by grade seven, he could no longer tolerate being inside. He couldn’t stand sitting still inside a classroom, so he slept to make the time go faster. He only wanted to be outside, so sleeping was his passive resistance solution.
So what is he doing now?
He co-owns a multi-million dollar excavation company complete with all the newest equipment. He owns the company along with his younger brothers (I just looked up the company’s website). My old friend is an operator and planner, but mostly he operates the heavy equipment. His mother does the bookkeeping. He hires office staff so he can be outside with his equipment all day long. He is building a big cabin facing the lake where we grew up. It has a 30 foot loft.
He asked me what I think happened to all those teachers who thought he was stupid. He knew I didn’t see him like that.
He slept partly because he didn’t expect to be doing any work. I sat in front of him and knew he was hiding behind me. I puffed myself up to conceal him as best I could.
Even on tests and exams, he didn’t even put his name on the paper. It remained blank until collection. He didn’t put his name or anything else on handouts either. His notebook was blank.
After a while the teachers treated him as though he was stupid. Then they treated him as though he wasn’t there.
He slept. He got older. Things didn’t change.
That was decades ago.
I saw him at a wedding a few years ago. He remembered me trying to hide him, and we laughed about this. I told him I was a high school teacher now and he laughed until tears formed.
He said that by grade seven, he could no longer tolerate being inside. He couldn’t stand sitting still inside a classroom, so he slept to make the time go faster. He only wanted to be outside, so sleeping was his passive resistance solution.
So what is he doing now?
He co-owns a multi-million dollar excavation company complete with all the newest equipment. He owns the company along with his younger brothers (I just looked up the company’s website). My old friend is an operator and planner, but mostly he operates the heavy equipment. His mother does the bookkeeping. He hires office staff so he can be outside with his equipment all day long. He is building a big cabin facing the lake where we grew up. It has a 30 foot loft.
He asked me what I think happened to all those teachers who thought he was stupid. He knew I didn’t see him like that.
