This morning I took a little walk. Along the well landscaped sidewalk, I noticed a gardener shoving dead leaves and other vegetation debris into a garbage can. With one leg in the can, his big, rubber, shin-high boots stomped the yard waste like he was kicking down an enemy. Watching this, I recalled a time when I was in kindergarten. I know…crazy that I remember kindergarten. This particular day in Kindergarten was craft time. The smell of minty paste and many shades of crisp construction paper were scattered about the table. The sound of safety scissors crunching through paper was echoing off the walls covered with large, colorful sheets of butcher paper. Our principal was in the classroom that day. Looking back I’m sure she was there evaluating the teacher and not me. But something inside of me thought I was being watched and all the notes being scribbled on the principal’s clipboard were certainly about me and no one else. So I went into brown-nosing, “I’m the top of the class” mode. Just like the gardener who packed the yard debris, I took the liberty of throwing away my construction paper scraps from my project and I took my black, rubber goulashes that were on my little 5 year old feet and crammed the life out of the contents of the garbage can and made sure any excess space was eliminated. I clearly wanted the principal’s note to read, “(My name) is very helpful and even helps out our janitor by compacting the garbage. Award this child with Student of the Month immediately”. Good thing I don’t own any goulashes now. I’m sure my superior would view me as a freak if she saw me pounding down garbage with rubber boots. The only note she’d be writing would be one to HR recommending I get information on the mental health services available to employees ASAP.
