A friend was telling me about her experience substitute teaching yesterday. She was working with a program that encourages girls to do something with their life, in an area where dropping out, drugs, and pregnancy are very common among young teenagers.
The girls in her class ranged in age from 11 to 14. Since she came from a rather rough background herself, she decided to talk straight to the girls before starting the lesson. My friend told the girls that they should have respect for themselves. And they should show that respect in the way they presented themselves. They needed to dress nice, not sexy. "Don't sell your bodies, sell your mind. It's worth more." was basically her message.
As my friend finished up her impromptu lecture, one little raised her hand and asked, "But doesn't my mind go along with my body?" My friend thought this was adorable.
Having an oddball sense of humor is a curse. Because as my friend finished up her story, all I could think of was someone hanging out on a seedy street corner, leaning into a car and saying: "For five bucks, I'll recite Poe. If you want Shakespeare's sonnets, it'll will cost you ten."
Naturally I spent the rest of the day offering to recite the multiplication tables if they'd give me some Coke.
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