Monday, January 05, 2009

You Be The Judge

We went back to school today, and it was HARD. I really got used to being a total slug who got paid for not working. Going back to work after the winter break is a slice of heaven compared with coming back after summer break, though.

One of my good friends called my classroom and asked if I could pop down to her room while she went out to the bathroom. I was happy to oblige, and started talking to her first graders. Some asked how my break was, and said "Happy New Year." One little girl raised her hand, and asked a question that gave me a moment's pause....

Student: "Mrs. KLee, do you know that song "Beat It" by Michael Jackson, back when he was black?

Mrs. KLee: "Yes, I know that song -- it came out when I was young. Back when he was black, huh? He's not black now?"

Student: "No, he's white now."

That's pretty bad if the six year olds, who weren't even BORN when he had his heyday know of his efforts to become Diana Ross. Needless to say, it was an interesting way to start off a new year.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

heehee-- those little ones have a different perspective on things, don't they?? "T"

ccw said...

LOL!!

ccw said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
kathy a. said...

oh, dear. on the other hand, there isn't really a useful, non-judgmental descriptive term for MJ now, is there? "wackadoo" or "self-made alien" just doesn't seem appropriate for the circumstances....

Anonymous said...

Greg Proops had the best term for Michael Jackson by describing him as "freakalope".

Val said...

Eek! When I was about that age, my classmates and I sany Weird Al's take on that song, "Eat It," :) as part of a school assembly. One of my great memories. Michael Jackson--and Weird Al--were just so cool and fun in the 80s, it's sad that the generations that came after missed out on that era when Michael Jackson was really doing incredible work.

kathy a. said...

ah, weird al! this has got to be dating me badly, but i used to listen to weird al on the radio during college [he sometimes was a feature on the "dr. demento show"]. we kept listening, off and on; i think that weird al was one of the things that kept me relatively sane during law school ['82 grad].

MJ was always peculiar, sometimes in a good way [dudes, do you remember the early jackson 5?], but more strange by orders of 10 as the decades have passed. in my opinion.

kathy a. said...

"freakalope" is the best new word i've heard all year, JF!