School Daze

School was always difficult for me because my teachers never understood how to teach someone that couldn’t see the blackboard, or textbooks.  On top of this the other kids treated me horribly.  I was harassed every day, they teased me, tried to beat me up, tried to humiliate me, and most of the time they succeeded until I started defending myself.  I never went as far as my future wife would, but I did learn to fight back.

There was this one kid named Jarred that treated me worse than any of the others.  He always tried to get me to fight him, and for the most part I tried to just ignore it, but there comes a time when you just can’t turn the other cheek, sometime you have to kick a little ass and this was one of those times. I don’t recall the whole fight, but I do know I came out on top.  He was knocked out entirely, and I was standing there ready for anyone who was willing to challenge me.  I, of course got suspended for 2 weeks, I didn’t care though, half the time I didn’t to want come to school anyway.

This fight took place at the last public school I attended.  I didn’t know it at the time, but the way I looked at school was going to change forever.  Thanks to the daughter of one of my mom’s best friends, Asha. I had a huge crush on Asha, she was always nice to me and we used to play together when our mom’s worked at Peach Tree Mall.  This was before the Marysville flood of 1986.

Anyway back to the point.  Asha was attending Marysville High School and had overheard some other kids talking about a kid who couldn’t see well.  Her curiosity was piqued so she continued to listen and what she heard saved my life… literally.  They said something about this kid having white hair, being real different, and needing to be taught the lesson that it’s not okay to be different.  They were planning something “special” for my arrival the next school year.  From what she heard it would most likely be life threatening..

Considering that albinism is a rare condition, it’s a pretty safe bet that these low life bottom feeders were talking about yours truly.  Asha told her mom, her mom told my mom, my mom told the school board.  The wonderful school board, for whom I have about as much respect as I do for a dog turd, in their infinite wisdom decided that the best course of action was to ignore it and not worry about something that may only be the “wild imaginings of a teenage girl.”

However, thankfully my mother wasn’t convinced.  She argued with the school district for three months about doing something to ensure my safety.  Now, the Marysville Unified School District liked having me as a student, not because I was going to be famous or because I was going to bring prestige to the school system, but because I was worth a lot of money.  You see, the school district got a certain amount of money for every student they had.  If the student was a “special needs” student like me that money went up a lot.  They didn’t want to lose that extra funding.

Well my mom finally had had enough she went to the school board and told them in no uncertain terms that since the school district was unwilling to help me, she would be taking me out of school and teaching me at home, after all she, a high school dropout, couldn’t do worse than they were.

Needless to say the school board was not happy about this turn of events.  They fought, screamed, bit, kicked, spit and when that didn’t work they tried diplomacy. The problem was my mom was too smart for them. She stuck to her guns. At the beginning of the next school year I would be home schooled, and the was the bottom line ‘cause Big Mama said so. Yeah, I like wrestling, wanna fight about it?

We were ready to see this through to the very end.  Then the school board told us something we couldn’t believe.  We thought they were talking out of their self-important, full of crap asses.  Turns out they were telling the truth, problem was they didn’t do it earlier.  I still hold a lot of animosity for the Marysville Unified School District can you tell?.  I feel real bad for all the kids that weren’t able to get out before the school board pulled them down to the abyss. I hope that one day someone who is able to fight out of it goes back and ‘teaches’ them a lesson.

So what was it they told us that changed my life?  What could have been that big of a statement that my whole world would never be the same again?  What could they have said that would have…. Oh never mind, just go to the next chapter to find out what the big deal was.

1. A Small History Lesson	2. Congratulations It’s A Freak
3. The First Five Years	4. It All Goes Up In Flames
5. School Daze	6. Say What?
7. A New Hope	8. Becoming A Sophisticated Redneck
9. A New Beginning – Literally	10. Back Into the Fray
11. They Like Me, They Really Like Me	12. 10011001
13. Let the Music Heal Your Soul	14. Taking My Sister to the Prom
15. My First Love, My First Broken Heart	16. From Zero to Hero
17. Livin’ On a Prayer	18. Moving On
19. Going Full Circle	20. The Rockford Files
21. Faith of the Heart	22. Partner, Friend, Lover, Wife
23. Turns Out She Was Right	24. A One-Legged Bear
25. Another Victim of the Game	26. Payin’ Bills with my Skills
27. A New Revell-ation	28. A New Page, A New Day
29. R We There Yet?