Eddie,
I was reading you blog the other day and I read about Ms Nell V. and how you impressed her with you math addition. I also enjoyed reading about the jokes that were played on her. It was fun reading.
I was kind of like you in high school with the don’t give a shit attitude and the non-conformist look on things. It was more fun to raise hell and drink beer on the weekends than to study. (It must run in the family). I also have several stories about Ms V., one that I would like to share with you. In fact I think you should start a collection of local Marietta High School tales of students like us and put them on your blog. It makes for good old hell raisen fun stories.
My senior year I had Ms V. for advanced algebra and trig. In the spring before graduation, I have forgotten what problems we were working on, but as usual one day I did not do my homework. Ms V. always got into a rage if someone did not do their homework. I could tell by her body language that she was really pist-off with me when she found out that I did not turn in my homework. She went into this long tirade about what we were going to do after we graduate and that we would be garbage men, or some other low life job. She then asked me why I didn’t do my homework. I said “Ms V. these problems are boring. I worked a couple of them and they are all just alike and once you work one you can work them all. (There were about 40 problems on this one page and we were assigned all of them). I just thought I was wasting my time.” She said, “Young man if you are so smart go to the black board.” She loved sending students to the blackboard to embarrass them in front of the whole class. So I strolled up to the board and she assigned one of the harder problems and told me to work it out on the black board.
I wrote the problem down. As I was writing the problem down I said to myself that I was in way over my head and how in hell was I going to get out of this one. I’ll just pretend I know what I’m doing and try to break down the problem as if I were Ms V., and stand up here and work the problem. I wrote and erased, and wrote and thought and erased some more, and worked some more. I tried to drag it out as long as I could. Then Ms V. said “Now Mr. Hunter explain as you go, and tell the others what you are doing.” I said to my self “O shit here goes”. I started explaining the problem the best I knew how. She then said, “Mr. Hunter that is correct.” I just about fainted. Somebody up there likes me. Ms V. said “Mr. Hunter I want to apologize to you. You do know what you are doing. From here on out for the rest of the year you do not have to turn in any homework as long as you keep up and understand what we are doing.”
I don’t know to this day, 43 years later, how in the hell I got it right. All I know is I got my C in advanced algebra and trig. And I did not do any homework for the rest of the year. And in May of ’65 I graduated from high school. I still have not used that kind of math crap since.
Cousin Johnny
14 comments:
Johnny,
And I thought I was the only one in our class that rebelled against Ms. V ! She gave me crap for the first 3 years of advanced classes and because of her I did not take Adv. Algebra and Trig the senior year. In my first college math class I needed AA and T!!
That B---h!
One day we had a major test and I purposely did not turn in a paper. When she gave back all the tests, she asked where was my paper and I asked her what had she done with it. She almost popped that blood vessel in her forehead. She let me stay after school and have a special test which I actually passed. I remember her making sweet Prissy cry at the blackboard and after that Ms. V was on my shit list.
Hope you are well old friend. I live in Walker, LA now and currently seem to be in good health.
I have recently enjoyed talking to your cousin Eddie via email. He and I have known a lot of the same people over the years and it took me all this time to meet him (over the Internet).
Take Care......... Skip H.
Skip,
I'm in Brunswick,GA. Wally told me at our 40th reunion that you were a cajun. I can't believe an old friend shows up on chicken fat.One of the last time's I saw you was in my appartment at West Gerogia College.We've had some good times.You also take care...Beak
Eddie,
Outside of basic algebra, I've never used most of the math from high school either. Back in the 70's advanced mathematics wasn't even required. Looky at me today - my last 2 classes at Tech are mathematics. Looks like it came from Mars..:)
Wow! I also remember that time in West Georgia when we had to deal with some coeds that had a little too much brew at the dance. I saw you at the reunion in 1990.
By the way, I think Peggy Holbrook was looking for your email address. Are you on the current distribution list from Camp Juliette Lowe? She works there and seems to be a point of contact. My email is: s_shudson@hotmail.com
Later....
Deborah,
I was a whiz at math for a moment - will, maybe for about a year, but now, if the numbers I am calculating have a sum of over 20 (with my shoes off) I have to use a calculator.
Deborah,
So!
I wondered what your relationship to Tech is; you have mentioned Tech a few times.
Now I know, you are a Helluvawreck!
Skip,
That is probably me (Johnny's son) on the Camp Low list. Our daughter goes to summer camp there - we are on the coast too. I'll be sure Dad re-checks the posts & contacts you.
j3
Thanks j3.
I did not explain it very well. Peggy has become a POC for the MHS class of '65, and as I said she works at CJL. She periodically forwards emails to her MHS class distribution list with news and updates about classmates, etc. She had asked about a month ago for some email addresses she had lost. So I wanted to make sure that she had Johnny's. Your Dad emailed me yesterday after you contacted him.
Eddie,
Thanks for letting us use your blog to do this.
Skip,
No problem! Glad you found a common watering hole.
I was about to email you yesterday too and ask for Peggy's email address. Then I looked the second time and saw you said Peggy Holbrook - dumb me originally thought you said Peggy Holcombe (who we both know) - I haven't seen her since her brother's funeral and just curious how she is getting along. Then she lived near Athens in Barrow County. I guess she is still there.
Eddie,
You probably know of 'this Peggy' too. Here maiden name was Kelly. I think she was somehow related to the Kelly family with the car dealership. She married Mike Holbrook who I believe lived in your area (Clay St./Waterman St. area)at one time. He and I met in bowling league as teens at Larry Bell. Mike was class of '64 and Peggy was class of '65.
I would not know how to contact Peggy Holcombe. You were the one that told me she was in the Athens area.
Skip,
Now you have me wondering about that Kelly car dealership. Was it Walter Kelly Chrysler? No, Walter Kelly was the Pogo cartoonist.
I remember Kelly radio commercials. He was a pioneer of the candid-talk commercial. In the commercial he would tell what was a hot buy at his place then he would top off his commercial by saying, "If you can't find what you want, go see my good friend ??? Strother at Strother Ford, just down the road from me."
Harry Strother!!!
Eddie,
Kelly Chrysler is what I could not remember. Walter might be the correct name. It sounds right. He had 2 sons Pepper, the older brother, and I cannot remember the other. One summer I worked for the 2 brothers. Mr. Kelly bought the old feed mill on the left past Elizabeth junction and put them in charge. It was a way for them to get business experience. There were no OSHA requirements then. They had this machine where farmers pulled up and offloaded corn cobbs and anything else they need ground into feed. There was absolutely no safety guard on the mouth of the machine. I was pushing a load of corn in there when something zinged by my ear. I had no clue what it was and then it happened again. I finally spotted that this farmer for whatever reason had some old nails mixed in with the corn and the machine was kicking them back out through the incoming side. When I realized that I had almost been nailed through the head with flying metal, I went and reported it. I often wondered if anyone was ever seriously injured working at that place.
I remember that mill operation. It was next door to a little cube of a concrete building that was the easiest place for a teenager to buy beer.
Also, now, it is near Brandi's Famous Hotdogs and Runaround Sue's.
When I was buying beer there in the late 50s, if I knew they were pour nails or other metal fragments into the mill, I would have crawled up to the "to-go" window.
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