So You Had a Bad Day...

I can't seem to get a particular song out of my head. Not since I heard a 10 year old boy singing it at the top of his lungs in the principal's office a few days ago. The delinquent boy-singer was having an "in-school" suspension and he was bored. Bored beyond words.

We were told to ignore him. Not to engage him in any way. Every time I walked past the open office door I'd see him out of the corner of my eye, precariously tilted on the two back legs of his chair, arms stretched wide to balance himself. I said nothing, even though I envisoned a trip to the Health Room in his future. In between balancing acts he called out,"I'm bored!" at random intervals. This was before he hit on the idea of serenading the office.

At first I had a little difficulty determining the exact song he was singing. He had a few words right but the rest of the lyrics were replaced with da-da-daa, da-de-duh. And the tune was slightly off. Apparently, this boy and I have something in common when it comes to remembering the words of a song. I can usually recreate the tune, but the lyrics, title and performer often escape me. Eventually I was able to identify the song, and now the student's random musical stylings have been firmly imprinted in my memory. I think I hear him singing in my dreams now. I hope this isn't a permanent condition.

Click on the arrow below to hear the song, but be careful...you could be the next victim.



I didn't actually have a bad day, even though I've come to the conclusion that an "in-school suspension" is definitely more punitive for the supervising adults than the child. I don't think the "suspendee" had such a bad day either. He seemed enjoy his captive audience. And even though we did not "engage" him, we did listen. Over and over, again. And then, a few more times on top of that.

Guess what I just discovered how to do? That's right. Now I can change the color of my text to any of 70 preselected colors. Exciting! Can't decide if this is an enhancement, or just an irritating novelty. I think the latter. I'll be back in my black and white world next time. Without musical accompaniment. Or maybe just a different tune.