Thursday, January 11, 2018

Friday 
10 February 2017

— "This bloke said to me, he said I once got my dog to retrieve a stick from 100 miles away-- I said that’s a bit far-fetched." — Tim Vine.

Good Morning All,

During the first week of school every August, I’d distribute a Who’s There? survey, asking the kids questions on a variety of topics, to get something like a class profile. That included inquiring  what they valued most in a friend. I provided a list of twenty qualities. They should award the quality they valued most 5 points; next most 4, next 3, 2, and 1.

Here’s how my six 12th graders voted in 2011.  Next to each item, I’ve put in the number of points it received: Athletic Ability  (1); Common Sense  (2);  Confidence (6);  Courage  (2);  Fairness;  (1)  Intelligence;  (11) Kindness  (4); Loyalty  (24); Maturity  (0);  Modesty  (0);  Open-mindedness  (4);  Patience  (0);  Physical Beauty  (3); Positive Outlook (2);  Self-respect  (8);  Self-possession  (0);  Sex appeal  (1); Spontaneity  (1); Wit/Humor  (20)

So, the top five: Loyalty; Wit/Humor; Intelligence; Self-Respect, and Confidence.

At the bottom of the page, I’d asked: If trust/honesty were one of the items, were would it come in? This class decided it would come in 3rd. That’s where it usually came in for 12th graders. (My 10th graders often listed it down around 7th.)

Needless to say our discussion of the results afforded a few laughs. We were all relieved Maturity had gotten no votes. One boy said whoever voted for Physical Beauty and Sex Appeal was a hypocrite since it was socially important your best friends looked like something the cat dragged in. (To which his best friend said, “Oh, thanks very much!”) I asked why Wit/Humor faired so well? Did they just want to be entertained?

They asked for my list. After I gave it (Trust/Honesty, Kindness, Courage, Loyalty, and a tie between Positive Outlook and Spontaneity), my star student said, “Jeeze, Mr. Pierce, you’re even weirder than I imagined."

How did I get off on this topic? Oh yeah, I am attaching a Boston Globe article about courage. I shall run the risk of being accused of mawkish sentimentality, but that has happened before. I have always admired courage. One of my university friends was one of the last kids in the country to get polio, and I have admired his courage since the day I met him. My sister-in-law daily battles osteoporosis and failing eyesight, but remains upbeat, refusing to give an inch to either. I admire Hillary Clinton’s courage, first when Bill betrayed her, and she said that you don’t just walk away from someone you love, and of course more recently the courage it took to run for president in a deeply misogynistic country, putting up with all the demeaning horseshit from Trump and the media.

Anyway, watch the video if you have the time. (You'll probably have to paste it in.)  It’s about a 9-year-old girl inventor I’d be honored to count as a friend.

Go Well and Stay Well,

Bhekaron

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