Once upon a time... when I was in the fifth grade...
A marine biologist we will call 'Mr.Blue' came to my elementary school and held an assembly to learn about the amazing variety of whales in the vast oceans. Being the geeky factoid magnet that I was then- I was immediately captivated by the thought of this. I remember sitting eagerly in the middle, front row of the gymnasium and listening intently to Mr.Blue recount work he did in the gulf. Retelling tales of scuba-diving in the Great Barrier Reef. Recording the sounds of grey whales during their mating and migratory periods.
Sitting here typing about it makes me smile. To be that kid again. A sponge-like, knowledge absorbing machine!
Then again, the memory is a bit short-lived when I say it makes me smile..
There came a portion in the assembly where students were selected to help with a demonstration about different types of whales. So yes, you can imagine I raised my hand and ran to the front of my peers when I was told I could be of service at the time. Mr.Blue began to take some large poster-boards with an image of a whale on each, and a description of what characteristics they have. I watched as we stood single file, facing the audience and Mr.Blue handed each of us our posters.
We were told not to look at them until he pointed to us and told us to turn them over. So- I complied with this request, not knowing the inevitable mockery I would become for the rest of the school year. Lindsay was the first girl in line, and she had the poster of a grey whale. She was rather beige for a young girl in the first place. Always eating peanut butter and jelly, and sitting by herself. Maybe her family was on the brink of extinction, or they were peanut butter and jelly vampires...
From what I can remember, the grey whale is hard to follow, and the species itself was almost extinct, but somehow they came back in great numbers. Baby grey whales also have dimples! Just like me! Ha. Moving on to Justin, he had a poster of the killer whale- which totally suited Justin. He had issues. One time at recess I saw him grabbing large carpenter ants, and smearing them on his face like he was Rambo: First Blood. Creepy.
Beluga's, humpback's, and blue whales were featured in this commentary. Most of which I had read about in my subscriptions to National Geographic.
There were several students ahead of me, and by the by I kept my curiosity of what was on MY poster to myself. When Mr.Blue reached me, he pointed to me and said,"Last but not least" then he made a gesture for me to turn over my poster and said,"The SPERM WHALE." If I could take a moment in time where there was a dramatic pause that didn't skip a beat, record it, and show it to you, THIS moment was it. Fifth grade students have a sick sense of humor, and I immediately knew the second I heard the words,"Sperm Whale" that I would then be the object of ridicule. I stared blankly ahead, and slowly lifted the poster to cover my face...
The sperm whale is the deepest diving mammal in the oceans. It has an extensive diet of large squid and fish. Sperm whales will care for their young for over a decade, and can live up to 70 or 80 years! All of these facts were fantastic, aside from my bright red face, hidden behind the poster and the ringing in my ears that distracted me from truly appreciating what I was being told.
The silence concluded with Mr.Blue continuing to talk about the sperm whale, and the background symphony to that was immediate laughter. Fingers being pointed not only at my poster, but at ME as though I was a giant, bulbous blob of fleshy, aquatic life, floating in front of them. Suspended in time. What was probably not even sixty seconds of time, turned into hours of my life chipping away internally. I felt like I was going to cry and piss myself all at the same time while I saw the sheepish grins of my peers belittling me.
Thanks to Mr.Blue, and my eagerness as a child to be a part of the adult world- trying to educate everyone. I turned myself into the sperm whale. For the rest of the week, all of the kids that participated in the demonstration snickered and made penis jokes. I can guarantee you that none of them genuinely knew what they were poking fun at. In fact, 2/3rds of my class probably WERE the product of a broken prophylactic in the backseat of some heavy petting session that their parents had way too soon in life. People like Lindsay and Justin- concluding that they were better than ME, because the whales that they were randomly selected for didn't have a genital reference...Er...Reproductive..
When I think of this story- I think of where I am in my life now.
Sitting at this desk, writing about the cruelty of my peers. The harsh realities of how people misinterpret words and the meanings of things that are supposed to educate them. Not only does this reflect on the ignorance and immaturity of my generation, but it truly shows how sad and unappreciative we can be to the world around us. I recently went back to Detroit with a lifelong friend of mine, and we drove through the town we used to live in on my way back to Ohio.
I felt sick to my stomach at the idea of a chance meeting with someone from high school. There are so many horror stories and bad memories from my childhood and teenage years that are all centered around my struggles in school. I never really found my place amidst the backstabbing and the cliques that only gravitated around popularity, fashion, and pubescent mind control.
The fifth grade taught me a lot about where I would go as an adult.
I would be the first to jump in line and demonstrate new ideas.
However, I would be judged...
People never make changes or make an impact without being judged.
People will always talk about you, so you might as well give them something to talk about. Right?
What does nature tell us?
Whales are known to teach, learn, cooperate, scheme, and even grieve...
There are times when I look at the world, and I see my younger siblings interact with people in their environment. I sincerely hope that they do not become the boy that I was, hiding behind the poster, ignoring the facts, because other people wanted to poke fun at it. I hope that they do not become distracted by the social norms that seem to subdue so many intelligent youth. I hope that I continue, even now to break away from hiding behind fear and I constantly educate and empower myself so I can take charge of my life.
So, aside from this fairy-tale nightmare, that only reflects on the outer layer of who I am today--
The moral of the story can be summed up to this line:
Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.
Gilbert K. Chesterton
