Monday morning

12 March 2017

— during today’s dawn even the air was soft gold

Good Morning All,

Here’s my Who’s There? class profile for the thirteen kids in grade eleven in 2008. Remember they awarded 5 points for their top pick, 4 for the next one, etc. They did not put their names on the papers, and I asked them to use block numbers.

Friendship top #5: Loyalty (32 points); Kindness (29); Wit/Humor (27); Common Sense (17); Fairness and Intelligence tied (12). If honesty were on t he list, it would have come second.

Activities: Here’s the whole list, from top votes to bottom: Friends (40);  Family (21); Play sports/games (18); Read (17); Listen to Music (17); Movies (13); Sleep (11); Create art/write/ music (9); Computer (8); Day Dream (7); Talk (6); Eat (6); Watch sports (5); Sing/play music (4); Travel (4); Television (2).

School, work, and religion got nary a vote.

When I started doing this profile in the early 1990s, Family always came first, and Friends was always second. Around 2000, they began to switch back and forth from year to year, with Friends usually winning.

Favorite School Subjects: Science and English tie (37), Humanities; history, social anthropology, economics (30); Art/drama/music (27);

Foreign Language (24); Physical Education (23); Math (18), Computer (4).

Goals: They could choose only three (3, 2, 1): Freedom (25); Love and be loved (24); Wisdom (13); Power (5); Beauty around you (5); Fame/prestige (4); Money/possessions (4).

These results suggested to me that this class was averagely honest or a little better than average, given that English did not automatically get listed as their favorite subject. On the other hand, I had serious doubts about Money/possessions getting only 4 points.

Anyway, the next day, when I put the stats up on the board, there was a fair amount of hooting and hilarity. One kid said, “Oh, yeah, right, eating, six points, gimme a break!” And we all laughed. Another kid said, “And only six points for talk? Not to mention any names, Samantha and Rachel, but there’s 10 points right there!” We had a good time.

Go Well and Stay Well,

Bhekaron