Saturday, November 05, 2005

He Needed Spellcheck!


When I was in the fifth grade, the school had a policy of having the classes draw names and give presents to each other at Christmas time. One of the boys in my class got my name. He knew me not only from school, but from church too, as we had been in Sunday School classes together for years, along with his twin brother. So his whole family knew me and my parents.

They teased me unmercifully all the time, and earlier that year they had begun to call me a name they thought was funny. Naturally, they howled with laughter and nearly rolled in the floor every time they called me that - as little boys are wont to do. I now realize that they must have liked me a lot to show me so much attention, but at the time, I was miserable over it.

On the day we were to exchange gifts, the teacher chose one classmate to read the gift tags and hand out the presents. Everyone was breathless with anticipation to see who got their name and what the present would be. Soon, the child called out my name, reading "This card says, 'To Judy the Cutie' from L_____C_____. "

Everyone in the class burst into explosive laughter and pointed to LC with derision. He was so embarrassed that he turned red as a beet in the face - and so did his twin. I blushed a little too, somewhat confused at the terminology he used. You see, his usual epithet for me was "Cootie".

A few days later, his mother told my mother that she knew what he was planning for the card, so when he asked her how to spell "cootie"- she told him "cutie". Served him right, don't you think?

Years later, at our 25th high school reunion, I told him and his wife about that card. He claimed no memory of it at all, and blushed when I mentioned it. Huh, just like a man to plead innocence!

See post below for the gift card!


25 comments:

Panthergirl said...

HAHAHAHA! It would have been great if you still HAD the card!

Too funny!

Here by way of Michele's today!

WendyWings said...

ROTFL good for his mother.

Michele sent me :)

( well not really but you said you got missed so I came by anyway :D

doug said...

I see the ephemera bug bit you early on, as you still have the card! Man, we are so much alike that way! LOL!........ I am not here via Micheles today - as I haven't checked in there yet.... but just stopping by on a saturday to say hi!


as always: (some day sooner this will Catch On I know it!)

W / V time...

"cbdwbp" =
"Could Boys Do Without 'boy posturing?" (in honour of your post of course!)


Thanks for dropping by me.......... D!

Jamie Dawn said...

That is so cute! Did you show him the proof when you saw him at the reunion? Denial! Typical guy!

Duke_of_Earle said...

He remembered. I promise you. I'm a guy, and I remember EVERY embarrassing thing I did or said in front of a group. Especially classmates.

Awesome Mom he had!

John

utenzi said...

How devilish of you to preserve the evidence over all these years, Judy. I'll have to be sure not to give you any incriminating evidence!

The story was so funny --especially his Mom's part in the situation-- I almost forgot to tell you Michele sent me this time. Cheerio!

Unknown said...

Twenty-five years later and he's still embarrassed. GOOD!

Michele sent me!

garroo said...

You should have asked him in front of his wife whether he remembers that he was an asshole. His wife might have replied "he still is!" Probably wouldn't, but you never know.

Yes, another one of Michele's. Probably doing it all wrong.

Anonymous said...

A wise mom. lol. Great story.

Thanks for the comment on the poem.

Anonymous said...

omg, ROFL... his mom was a WISE woman! LOL
oh man, the things we can laugh about now that were so hard on us when we were kids.

Anonymous said...

Michelle sent me. I loved this story. How nice to have a fun, cute memory like that and to have the evidence as well!

Michelle said...

How funny! Here via Michele tonight. Have a great weekend!

Anonymous said...

Hi, Michelle sent me. Love the story... I hope I can think that quick on my feet with my kids!

srp said...

You really have saved almost everything haven't you? This is really a funny story. Just like a man to deny remembering it.

Le laquet said...

Excellent - good old Mum!! *still sniggering*

Oh, btw Hello from Michele!

FattyPants said...

Boys deny everything! The dinner you went to the other night sounded fabulous. What a treat. Can't wait to see the pictures :) Here via michele's today

John said...

When I was in 5th grade, I had Ms. Mahoney. She was incredible. I loved every second of her classes. She was the type of teacher who wanted you to learn what she was teaching, and had a genuine interest in what you thought, felt, and said.
However, Jessica was also in my class. She was the first person to noticably go through puberty in my grade. Every day she wore steel toed boots to class. And every day she would stop on my feet in the bathroom, lunch, or bus line.
I didn't like 5th grade too much...

Peter said...

Judy, I am so glad we did not attend school together, I'm sure with the wicked sense of humor that we both seem to have there would have been fireworks.
Besides you have far too good a memory!!!!

Olyal said...

I couldn't leave a comment on the post above for some odd reason, so I'll leave this one here instead.
I thoroughly enjoy my visits to your blog Judy. You always have such interesting posts. :o)
Michele sent me.

Panthergirl said...

Yeah, something is weird with the new post...can't comment!

Do you know what the Metropole ended up being?? The focus was on "pole", if you catch my drift!!!

The Mistress of the Dark said...

I'm going to comment on both posts.

The fan with the baby on it is adorable. It's so wonderful that you have all these photos and things to share. I think so many of my memories are going to be digital camera images with nothing tangible to back them up.

Oh and boys will be boys, right?

Here via Michele's this time

carmilevy said...

Nasty behavior always seems to have its own reward - or lack thereof. Now, if he had been nice...

Thanks for this affirmational story. I sure am glad I didn't tease folks when I was in grade school.

ribbiticus said...

hahaha! boys will be boys...good thing you saved the card for evidence at a later time...:)

Weary Hag said...

haha! Great story. I totally love this guy's mom! I think it's wonderful that you saved your 'proof' ... good for you Judy!

Anonymous said...

I can't believe you have the card!