Monday, January 18, 2010

The Beginnings of a Rumor

(A true story.)

Hadassah relates:
I am so nervous for my first year of teaching. I am sure all of my seminary lessons have prepared me, but still, it's scary. I just got my class list. I barely recognize any names, which is a good thing. I am very nervous to have Leah Gold, she knows me from the neighborhood. I hope she is not going to act up to prove it. And I wonder if Suri Weiderman is the sister of my old classmate- Esti Weiderman. That would be strange. And embarrassing. I hope she isn't.

Esti relates:
This is so cute. I heard that my classmate Hadassah Abramson is teaching in Bais Rivka. Now my third grade sister has Morah Abramson. It's for sure Hadassa!

Hadassah relates:
Suri is definitely Esti's sister. She looks like a little clone of Esti. I hope she doesn't say anything embarrassing about the class to her sister.

Esti relates:
I hope third graders don't say anything embarrassing about their families to their Morahs. All I need is for a former classmate to hear all sorts of family secrets. Yikes.

Hadassah relates:
Suri seems to like me, which is a good thing. I feel such a pressure to make a good impression on Esti. I feel like the whole world is going to hear about my performance as a teacher through Esti, via Suri.

Esti relates:
Ouch! Oh my gosh what did I just do?? Ouch!! My hand!
"Ma!! Ow, my hand...help!"
"I don't know. Maybe you should call... Ow. It kills..."
"Thanks... I hope hatzalah gets here soon."
"Ouch, this hurts so much..."
"Ma... Ow... Maybe you should send the kids down to the- ouch- basement so they aren't in the way of the -ouch- hatzalah men."
"Thanks Ma. Yeah, it still kills."
They're here. I hate this. Why do they have to get my whole biography?? I AM IN SERIOUS PAIN!

Hadassah relates:
What a pain. Suri didn't do her homework. It's so strange, she has always been so good about homework. I hope she has a good reason for not having her homework done.
"Why don't you have your homework done Suri?"
"It wasn't my fault Morah!"
"What happened?"
"I left my book upstairs in the living room and I couldn't get it!"
"Why couldn't you get it?"
"Cuz a man came for my sister and my mother said we had to stay downstairs in the basement."
Oh, wow! Such exciting news!
"Ok Suri, you are excused for today. Make sure to make up the work."
I am so excited about this! As soon as I get home I better start spreading the news!

Esti relates:
It's bad enough having a broken hand, I hope Suri didn't go telling her Morah that Hatzalah came.

13 comments:

Hershel said...

Awesome.

SMB said...

Ha!

Thanks for starting my day off with a laugh (and don't ask why my day is just starting now)!

Dude with hat (aka BTS) said...

HAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAH no other words!!1

itsagift said...

Ha! That's a funny one!

Rumors start that way - someone hearing something and taking it totally the wrong way.

At least over here, we can all laugh...

J.A.P. said...

Should I tell you about the mom I know who couldn't get her kid into playgroup because he had the reputation of being a total horror?

Anyway, after much searching she found out that her two year old son had the xact reputation SHE gave him to ALL the women in the park every summer morning.

Don't get me started on rumors!

G6 said...

Hey, maybe the Hatzoloh guy was single ;)
In all seriousness though -
My husband's uncle used to be the principal of the local school and he used to tell the parent this: "If you don't believe everything your child tells you goes on in school, we won't believe everything your child tells us goes on at home!" :D

Anonymous said...

This one is funny!

But rumors can also be very bad. i was the "victim" of many rumors, to the point that it was very hard for me to walk outside bec. i felt the fingers pointing and the heads turning. Whenever you hear a rumor, PLEASE, don't believe it just because it sounds juicy. You are hurting the person the rumor is about.

So many rumors are just that - rumors. false. made up. not true. and it's not fair to cause someone else pain just because you believe someone else's made up stories.

Michaltastik said...

I was just saying on my own blog that I think Orthodox Jews gossip more than other groups. A teacher of third graders should know that this is probably some twist and turn. Children are brutally honest AND they often don't realize how an adult might construe their shortened versions of things.

Dude with hat (aka BTS) said...

@G6 - supposedly they don't accept not-married into the team :(

G6 said...

@ Dude with the Hat -
In my neighborhood, that's what you get the majority of the time.....

nobody said...

Hatzalah policy, if I'm not mistaken, is that EMTs can be single, but not paramedics (because paramedics have to learn some stuff that - well, you get the picture).

Mushkie said...

Hysterical!!! And so true, I've had personal experience :)

Something Different said...

Hershel- Glad you liked!

SMB- Lol, you made me laugh with that comment!

BTS- Yeah, glad you like.

IAG- True, they can be problematic...

JAP- That's hilarious. People are so lose tongued, and they think nobody cares or hears...

G6- Yeah, I used to have that when I was a day camp counselor for little kids. I used to think that if they are telling me about mommy and daddy having a fight or about their mommy having a baby in her tummy, they probably hear lots of things I don't want them hearing either...

Anon- It's true. Rumors are dangerous. I think I will write another post on this. :-)

MW- Thanks. :-)

Michal- I think it's cuz we are much more close knit than other communites. In another community, the likelihood of teaching your former classmate's first grade sister would be a lot lower, for a number of reasons.

BTS- Cheer up, you can join pretty soon!

FJIYU- Interesting. I also thought hatzalah couldn't be single.

Mushkie- Glad you liked. :-)