Vandalism
When I was an elementary principal in the
late 1950’s I worked with Mae Bess Price, a second grade
teacher. Miss Mae Bess was a tall matronly person who spoke
slowly in typically southern manner. She was extremely
aware of diction and sometimes corrected my pronunciation
of words. She loved her students and her job, and she
frequently expressed amusement at the liveliness of her
second graders.
This is a favorite story that she told me about a little
boy in her room. Several times each day she had to take her
students to the restroom. The boys’ restroom was on the
opposite end of the building from the girls’. She would
appoint monitors for each group and stand in the hall,
halfway between the restrooms, to maintain orderly
discipline. One day one of the boys came running back to
Miss Mae Bess urging her to come quickly. A boy was going
to yank the paper dispenser from the wall. Miss Mae Bess
hurriedly entered the boys’ restroom. There was a small boy
standing in front of the dispenser.
“What do you think you’re doing?” asked Miss Mae Bess.
“Nothing,” answered the frightened boy, “ I was just
reading the directions on the paper dispenser. It says
‘Pull down and tear up’.”