My mother dropped me off in the classroom. I marched off without looking back. She was somewhat miffed.
I sat eagerly in my chair, staring at the chalkboard. I was told I would learn things in school and was very excited by such a prospect. The other children roamed about talking, playing, and hanging up their coats, but not me. I sat at my table, hands folded in front of me, patiently staring at the board.
Finally, the teacher called the class to order and welcomed us all. Then she had to stop to tell me to take off my coat and hang it up since I hadn't bothered to do so when I first came in (it never occurred to me to imitate the behavior of the other children, nor did I notice they all had removed their coats). Afterwards, we got a picture to color featuring two girls reading a book. I decided they were really "vegetable people" from a planet where plants ruled and humans were slaves, so I colored them green. A girl looked at my picture and complained I was weird.
Then the teacher took role call. The other children found out I had a funny sounding last name. My fate was sealed from that point on. Three days later, the girls and boys had segregated themselves into two seperate tables. I didn't know where to sit and some girl told me, "This is the girl table and that is the boy table." I thought, "How can a table be a boy or a girl? It's made out of metal and plastic!"
I was a stupid child.
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"If we fail to anticipate the unforeseen or expect the unexpected in a universe of infinite possibilities, we may find ourselves at the mercy of anyone or anything that cannot be programmed, categorized or easily referenced."
-XFG (no longer a moderator)