The sweetest story I have seen in years was just on the news. It being May, the school year is winding down, and a local elementary school decided to take the the whole student body,and their parents,and all the teachers, load them up and haul them off on a surprise picnic in the big park. From class one till the end of the day the children played games,hiked up and down hills, had three legged races,ate sack lunches and drank ice-cold milk from little cartons on wooden picnic tables,while they sang and laughed,and enjoyed dappled sunshine and wind-swept hair.
It so reminded me of a time when I was in school, when we were given last minute notice that we didn't have to wear our uniforms that day,and were to bring sack lunches,and almost the minute I arrived at school we were all whisked into big buses,and with great anticipation our teachers and chaperone's came twittering onto the buses too, looking like great penguins that huddled near the back of the bus and whispered amongst themselves as strange looking men drove us to a big park way across town...someplace none of us had ever gone!
Finally we arrived,and pulled in to a huge green expanse where the lanes of the park were divided, and one went up this way, and another went off that way, and no one knew where we were supposed to go. All the children sat there clutching their little brown paper bag lunches,and looked around for someone or something familiar...but of course there was nothing.,and our chaperons were worse off than we were. Had we but known the Sisters were even more out of their depth than we were, we might have been frightened, but they of the convent variety of penguin were fairly adept at behaving as though they could handle any situation. After what seemed like hours of sitting on those buses,wheeled around and behind one another like a serpentine monster, one of those buses doors began to open, and two and three at a time the sisters disembarked from the doors,and right there in the middle of the park lanes, they had a confab, their black robes and capes fluttering in the breeze. At long last, the sisters came back to the buses,and ordered the drivers to park,and led us off the buses. Now, the day had begun with warm sunshine, but by the time we got off the buses, the day was overcast and rather chilly, which didn't suit the shorts and sleeveless tops we were allowed to wear,and the pace we were led at was a far cry from restful or sedate as the nuns urged us up and down hills and across fields,our paper bag lunches took a fearful beating as they banged against our stumpy little legs. But, we found the zoo, the big pavilion with all the picnic tables on the hill, along with all the lunch people waiting there with the milk and ice cream and cake...but apparently we had waited on the buses too long, for we weren't give time to even sit down on the table under the vast pavilion. Quickly we were cued up to pick up our bottles of milk and pieces of cake and little tubs of ice cream, and then rushed on down the hill again to climb back onto our buses, and then once safely in our seats, making our way out of the park ,we were told to go ahead and eat our lunches. Most of my class-mates were puzzled and fairly confused as we unwrapped our sandwiches, but I noticed that amongst our teachers there was hand-wringing and sad faces. One in particular, whom wasn't exactly my favorite, but who seemed very sweet, had actual tears in her eyes. It occurred to me on that long ride back to the school that they had planned a nice day for us, and were very upset and disappointed that things had not gone well. But no one else seemed to notice their distress. My class mates began to talk about it, and all they could see, was that this had been a total waste of time. We arrived at the school far later than if we had been in school that day, and the general conversation was,our school couldn't do anything right,and though while we were still on the bus those sentiments were being expressed in whispers, once we got off the bus, rumor was being passed,and it was not quietly done either. Parents were there to pick up their children, and as was our wont, King was there to greet me and walk me home,and I tossed him the last bit of my sandwich, while I scarfed down the cake and ice cream. The buses were still pulling in around the school-yard,circling the entire block,and the nuns were standing in small semi-circles in their dignified, albeit embarrassed groups, ready to take any harsh words that might be coming their way for the fiasco they had unwittingly planned. Sure enough, the more vocal of my class-mates were runnng up to their parents, telling them how awful the picnic had been,and Sister Mary tears in the eyes was beet-red in the face,and just then, Mom and Dad approached. I stepped into the group of nuns,and for the first time ever, I spoke up loudly,addressing each teacher by name,and thanked them for the outing! I don't to this day remember all their names, but that day I knew Sister Mary Carmelita had taken my hand and pulled me along when I was having trouble getting up the hill to the zoo, that Sister Mary so and so had helped me to get my milk and pointed out where to go to get my cake and ice cream,and I pointed out in no uncertain terms that they had taken us to one of the prettiest parks I had ever seen,and wouldn't they tell my parents where it was so we could go there again? I had no intention of trying to be in the lime-light,but I just couldn't bear to see those ladies be humiliated and cry because regardless of all their efforts, their attempts to give us children a good time had fallen through so badly. They at least had tried. We would go home with families that loved us,and could show us good times all summer. Those dear sweet ladies had no one but each other,and the memory of that day, and once they went into the convent and closed the door, would only have either the thanks of the children they had tried to please, or their derision.
Well,all of those sad little drawn faces brightened as the parents rushed forwards to thank the sisters,and several young ladies and gentlemen were thrust forwards from the bosom of their families to give thanks,and shake hands,and talk changed from what happened that was wrong, to how wonderful the zoo was,and what a clever use of our time not to have us spend all our time at the park just eating, but to do other things there,and eat on the way back!
And I, all these years later, have a warm feeling in my heart when I see such a story as I saw on television today,and an echo of a smile, such as the ones on the faces of those dear ladies,whom even though they were not perfect, at least tried to do their best to give their students a happy outing.
OUI?
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