The Disturbance of the Puppets

　　This "big incident" will be looked back on and laughed at for the rest of Matt's life and mine. This was the crowning event of the entire year. There is always a "the big thing" each year. This was the big thing that year. It becomes the conversation piece for the rest of the year and continues to be a problem through out that time. Yes, the big thing for the 1998-1999 school year at my junior high was the famous, "puppet show". Saying that name brings a smile to my face because I can look back on that and realize just how pointless, mindless, and absurd it really was.

　　The infamous 50-point coloring packet of the second semester made me angry. This was a blatant insult to the IQ of the entire class. What kind of a teacher can't think of a better idea than coloring? Matt and I refused to do such self-demoralizing things and didn't do this "assignment". If anything, Ms. S wasn't going to give another coloring packet to save her class' grades again, but what could she do? After all, we had to have tests and homework, but every time we had any sort of homework or test, the class average would go down. By the beginning of the third quarter, the class average was a very impressive 38%.

　　At that time, I came up with something so funny that I still remember it. One day in class I was looking at the grades on the wall. Yes, she even posted her grades on the wall.

　　One day, I saw that around 90% of the people weren't passing again but not quite as bad as the third quarter. So I go and get some markers from my locker and before class handed a marker to everyone in the class and just told them to hold onto them.

　　No one knew what was going on, only Steve and Matt got the joke, but only Steve had the nerve to go through with it. When Ms. S walked in he walked up to her and said, "Ms. S…umm I have a 19% right now, when's the next coloring packet?" and held up his marker to her face.

　　Suddenly everyone got it and started to giggle and chuckle all over the room. Ms. S's face turned from pale to red and back to pale with anger and almost, but didn't send Steve down to the principal.

　　Of course she wasn't going to give another packet again. The low class average was a constant thorn in the side for Ms. S. Her coloring packet had brought school wide attention, mostly bad. There was no way she would do it again. What could she do? Ok here's an actual "good" idea. For this section, chemistry, her forte, she decided to do an actual project. This was probably the first project of the entire year with some premise behind it. The project was a presentation to the class on a fossil fuel or an energy form. Energy forms are things that we, humans, use to supply energy. Hydroelectric, coal, wind, solar power, petroleum, and natural gas are some examples.

　　Everyone got to pick a partner and also a topic. I picked Matt and we together we chose natural gas. Thinking back on this, it seems that it was almost meant to be. Everything was perfect for what would happen next. This project was like any other visual presentation. Like you read before, we know what to do for an A. Both of us knew what was required to get good grades on these, because we had worked together many times that year. We knew the secret to making it interesting and educational.

　　We had the perfect idea. We would make a puppet show! Our idea for the presentation was inspired by the oldies game show the "Dating Game". I don't know if you have seen the dating game, but it is quite entertaining. It wasswheresthree guys try to get a date with a "mystery date" that was in a booth. The girl would ask them questions and each one would answer. They couldn't see each other, so the girl had to pick them by their answers. It is basically who answers the questions the best. That was the perfect idea for such a show.

　　We made a man named, "BOB" who would serve as our "mystery date". But BOB wasn't looking for a date; he was looking for an energy form to supply his house with energy. The contestants for this energy form dating game were oil, coal, and natural gas. We wrote a bunch of questions that made coal and oil sound bad and natural gas sound good so that BOB would choose natural gas.

　　Now at that time we had a friend named Tom. Tom was an African American and he was proud of it. I have no malicious feelings toward anyone because of their skin color. I believe racism is the worst thing in today's society; it is one of my biggest pet peeves. If you make fun of my heritage and skin color, I will let you know how I feel! I will fight to keep racism away from me and I will fight to show that I don't stand for the shit that it is.

　　At this point in American culture, there is no tension whatsoever between anybody so Tom had a one liner that would make everyone laugh when he said it. We would play cards or something and Tom would lose and he would smile as he prepared his famous one liner, "It's because I'm black isn't it!?" and everyone would laugh. The funny part behind that one line of words is that there IS no racial tension any more.

　　That was something that was said 30 years ago when blacks were segregated and didn't have as many chances as whites. Tom uses it as a joke when he loses at something. Key word, JOKE.

　　The next day on the bus, Matt and I looked over our script that I had written for the puppet show. It wasn't really a script it was a list of the facts that we had to say within the presentation. Both of us hate scheduling stuff and hate to read from scripts and prewritten speeches.

　　For me, scheduling confines life. I like to think that I flow like water. Water is the world's most powerful force. Yet it can flow along quietly or it can crash and destroy. Water can conform to what ever is around it and never get hurt. That theory is straight from Bruce Lee, and I really like it. When you schedule yourself/confine yourself to a speech, you aren't flowing with the river; you're washing uncomfortably through a canal. So we both decided to only have the facts we need to say and improvise the rest as we go along.

　　Then as the students got the idea of the puppet show someone in the crowd made a joke about dating. Everyone laughed out loud including Matt and I because we had never thought that anyone would think of it that way. Ms. S didn't do a thing. We are approaching the end of the presentationswheresBOB decides which energy form to use. He decided that it's not coal, because coal is expensive and burns with heavy smoke. So coal, played by Matt, walked off and said, "It's because I'm black isn't it?" via Tom's inspiration. Everyone laughed. Then the bell rang and the class had to leave, we got up to go and Ms. S kept us and said, "Finish it." I looked at Matt and he looked at me and I looked back. I could hear the next class of students come in. She let them scream and yell and jump around while we were doing our presentation. I have stayed after periods before to do presentations, but the teacher usually only lets you stay if she doesn't have a class next and if she does the class MUST stay outside. It's common courtesy. A crowd of 7th seventh graders gathered and watched us finish. Some of them liked it and some of them were making fun of us throughout the whole thing. I was so mad at Ms. S when she added with her characteristic sneer, "And these are the smart kids!" and all the 7th graders laughed.

　　Ok I can picture you reading this and going, "That's just one of those everyday happenings that's not so bad." That's exactly what Matt and I thought after leaving Ms. S's room; we went through the entire day thinking that our project had been the best so far. We didn't read a book to you, yet we provided a lot of information. We were creative and original using a puppet show. We put timesintosthe puppets. But most of all, we were the only ones who had one that was entertaining at all. What could go wrong?

　　Have you ever gone to watch a movie with someone and at the end of the movie you think it's the best movie you've ever seen and your friend thinks it's absolutely horrible. Your views are completely opposite of each other despite seeing the same thing. That is just a matter of people's opinion of course, but what happened to Matt and I was far beyond opinion it got to the point of personal hate and bias. Something that no teacher should ever let gets the better of him or her.

　　The last period of the day, I got a slip to go down to the principal's office. I was absolutely clueless as to why they would call me down to the principal's office with 3 minutes left in school.

　　This is what I thought when I went down there walked in and joked with the office secretary Mrs. Reddington. She is the one who makes Matt and I sign in every morning after we get back from Math class at the high school.

　　I sat down across from her and said, "Why am I here?"

　　She shrugged at me and said jokingly, "Knowing you, you're probably in trouble." (This is so ironic it's like a written script) How could I be in trouble? Mrs. Reddington must have been kidding. I sat down and actually convinced myself that the only reason I could be down here was to do the afternoon announcements. So I tried to entertain myself as I waited.

　　The school principal's name, also ironically, is spelled the same as a dangerous fish that eats other fish and animals. He walked out of his office and looked around like he's hunting something. He pointed at me and said, "You. Come here." and walked backsintoshis office.

　　I shrugged as I walked in behind him and said, "What's up?" very nonchalantly because I had no idea what was going on. He turned around and looked me straight in the eyes (Well sort of straight one of his eyes looks off in another direction), and scowled, "SIT DOWN!"

　　Then it hit me, as I went to sit down, Mrs. Reddington's joke was a prophecy. I was in trouble.

　　I sat down and the principal started to look through his stuff until he found what he was looking for. In his hand he held a two-page letter from Ms. S requesting Matt and I be suspended from school for our puppet show.

　　The principal started to read the letter. It instantly infuriated me. I repeatedly shouted, "WHAT?!" as he read the letter aloud.

　　One, our puppet show was sexual in content.

　　Two, our puppet show was propaganda for racism and that we openly stated, "I hate you because you are black!"

　　After hearing these crazy accusations, I was incredibly angry! This pathetic excuse for a "teacher" seemed to have no morals. After that moment, I never saw Ms. S as a teacher again!

　　As for her accusation that our puppet show had sexual intimations, we had never mentioned or even thought anything along those lines. It was only broughtsintosthe picture when one of the ignorant students joked about it during our presentation. If our presentation was so ugly and offensive, why didn't our wonderful "teacher" stop it? Let's give her the benefit of the doubt, dating is allowed in American schools. Even more so, this had nothing to do with our project about choosing an energy form.

　　The so-called "racism" was sheer nonsense even to mention. When she made this accusation, I guess she forgot that I too am a minority. When Matt said the joke about being black, everyone recognized as exactly that, a joke.

　　This event almost happened two years ago, as I look back upon it now, I see that I missed an important point. Ms. S said that Matt had said, "I hate you, because you are black." The problem was that Matt played the part of coal himself. Come on Ms. S, that's just stupid to even bring up. How could the coal hate himself? It makes no sense at all. The sad part is that I was too angry at that point to have thought of this and I couldn't capitalize on this key point.

　　The principal was at fault too. Without even thinking about it, he believed the pompous slander of Ms. S. On top of that, he wouldn't believe me when I told him the truth. This was no longer some small misbehavior like chewing gum; I was being accused of racism. Is a brain a requirement to be principal or not?

　　I've heard about the Cultural Revolution in China from my parents. Ms. S seemed to have no need for reason or fairness, she charged and traduced us with what ever she wanted. I don't see much difference between these two things.

　　I walked backsintosMs. S's class and threw my backpack on the ground, stuck my finger at her and said, "What kind of teacher are you?swheresdo you get the right to accuse me of this whole bunch of shit!?" This was the explosion that happened after the accumulation of a semester of mutual dislike between Ms. S and us. Matt and I never liked her "teaching", the packet of coloring book pictures, and the fact that she let students of our age play with kindergarten toys. All in all, we believed—knew that she was not a qualified teacher. Of course, she knew much more clearly the excuses she would use to accuse us.

　　I sat outside of the school and just thought about what had just happened and what I was going to do. My dad arrived at the school and asked, "What happened?" That led to an incredibly long night of explanation of what happened and what Ms. S did and so on. At the end of it, I wasn't surprised to find my parents on my side. No one could have sided with someone like Ms. S. Around eleven o'clock at night, Matt called. He seemed to be crying. I hadn't cried, not even a drop of tears. I knew that I was facing one of the biggest challenges in my life. After leaving Ms. S's class, I told her, "Don't think that you can use the principal to do what ever the hell you want to do. Remember the Terminator? Arnold's famous quote,‘I'll be back'…that's exactly what I want to tell you."

　　After that, the plot seemed to be straight out of a movie. The other students in the class, Matt, and I started to work together in protecting ourselves. The battle was non-stop. Before school, after school, on the bus, in the halls Matt and I gained supporters among the students and teachers. Mr. Henrich told us boldly that he would vouch his own dignity to make sure that he would tell the Principal what kind of students Matt and I really were.

　　Of course, our parents were thinking and investigating at the same time. My dad, from the perspective of an education expert, pointed out to the school the many serious teaching problems they had.

　　The end result was the school removed any punishments that Matt and I would receive. I was transferred to another science class. After hearing that I got to leave Ms. S, the students all cried out, "How come Kuan can leave, but I have to stay?"

　　In the eyes of the students, I must have seemed like Andy Dufresne from the "Shawshank Redemption", who successfully escaped from an unjust jail and also cleared his name from crime.

　　Poor Matt still sat in Ms. S's class. The principal thought that putting Matt and me together in one class was too much for any teacher to handle. He even believed Ms. S's silly ideas. The truth is, that year Matt and I had 5 classes together. Except for Ms. S's class, we had A's in every class. You do the math!

　　While writing all of this out, I found myself getting really angry at some parts of the story and laughing until my stomach hurt at other parts of the story.

　　This is one of those incidents that have been put far behind me, but I am really glad I have had it. I really can't blame Ms. S, because she probably knows that there is something wrong with the way she teaches (She has been to 4 schools in 5 years).

　　I did learn one important thing from her. The only thing that Kuangyan Huang has ever learned in her class is the undeniable phrase, "Life is fair. It's unfair to everyone." I will hold this with me as I go on in my school career and offsintoscollege andsintosthe working world.

　　I know that there will always be different kinds of people out there, but with this experience under my belt, I'll be prepared every step of the way.