A Harmless Ruse

I remember in junior high school, having an over active sense of humor.  It was fine-tuned,  and was always seeking new opportunities to express itself.

Weeks Junior High School was an old brick, three-story, multi-winged building.  Each wing had classrooms on both sides of the hallway.  The floors were tiled, the stairway steps were cement, and there were metal handrails.  Although the janitors did there best to keep the building up, it was an old building, and showed its age proudly.  Classrooms were set up for about 30 students; the school desks were the individual seat and desk top style, set up in multiple rows and columns. The air conditioning intake vents in each classroom were located in one of the corners adjacent to the hallway, at floor level.  They had rather large openings, maybe 30 inches wide by 30 inches tall, with, if I remember correctly, about a two foot diameter ducting going up through the ceiling.   Each classroom was layed out with the intake vents always located behind the teacher’s
desk.

I had thought about this plan for some time… it was harmless, would be fun for all my classmates, and I would certainly move me up in the trouble-maker ratings.  It was a go!

My target was a teacher with little sense of humor… thus the draw, a challenge.  I made sure I was in class early, English I think.  I made a beeline for the vent, and with flashlight in hand, I crawled up inside the vent, jammed my feet against the lower rim of the ducting, and settled
in for a 45 minute cramp session.  The vent actually caught the teacher’s voice, amplifying it, making note taking easy.

After class, I slipped out of the vent, and wanting to ensure the teacher saw me, walked up behind her to ask a question about something she had said during class.  She immediately informed me I had been marked absent, and that the principal would be notified.  I countered,
explaining that I had all the notes from class, and showed her my scribblings.  She looked confused, and insisted I had not been in my seat.  I countered again with the notes I had taken… after all, how could I come up with notes covering the entire class if I hadn’t been there?

The teacher looked quite puzzled and annoyed.  I deduced that it would probably be in my best interest not to push my luck.  After all, I had scored big in the trouble-maker department, I hadn’t missed class, and had entertained 30 classmates. It was a complete success!

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