If you would know me then you would know my child. Yesterday my child came home off the bus hysterical. I've known her eleven years and have never once seen her even remotely act like the child that came home to me yesterday. Some one had almost broken her spirit, and had I not
done what I did this morning (three meetings worth mind you) they would have succeeded and I would have lost my child to the wonderful world of the walking dead.
When the little kid walked in the door, I could tell that someone mentally ripped her apart.
It took me an hour of holding her to get her to stop crying it was that sever.
The little kid's IQ is phenomenal, mentally with logic the average child let alone average adult cannot compare. She can walk you through it if you will listen. She converses on an adult level and most adults love it and love to talk to her. She is definitely not the trouble child.
Someone in the last three days has taken a razor knife and cut the bus seat in front of the seat she is assigned and written her little mans name in blue marker and what looks to be a phone number. The square that I was show was precision cut so I knew it was a razor knife because
the bus seat is vinyl and there is no stabilized backing behind it, only foam. The vinyl has done what all loose vinyl does, and become very soft in the heat. There were no scissor marks nor a knife entry puncture point, logic states it could only have been a razor knife.
The bus driver found this and showed it to the principle, who then in turn questioned the little kid.
The bus driver question the children on the bus and two little girls said that my child did it.
Mind you now one of the little girls who is in the third grade has a crush on the written name.
Little man ignores her because he won't play below the fifth grade level, he doesn't have to.
He is a ladies man and always has a line waiting for him.
So when this occurs I'm under the understanding is has been done the previous day before.
The little kid never rides the bus in the morning only in the afternoon, because the little man does to. The little man has been in her life for seven years and she in his. She adores him and always has. She accepts the fact that he's a player, but through thick and thin they always remain friends. They're just that close.
High school kids and junior high kids also ride this bus, it's used in shifts on a time schedule
Well yesterday when she came home I got her side of the story and this morning I got everyone Else's. I had to or she would have lost respect for the usage of her own intelligence. That ain't gonna happen on my watch. She tried to explain to them exactly what I described, she was searched and didn't have a weapon. If you knew my kid that statement alone would horrify you for her sake alone. She was asked if she had a weapon in her possession her word was not taken and she was searched. Which is also another key factor that added to the hysteria.
They didn't know I was coming in this morning. When I got there the principle had four children from the incident in the office. Interrogation time was my thought, but the would prove not to be the case either. The principle was just going to accept the word of the third grader, how do I know this you ask? Because of what ensued and the reason I'm writing. All of this is being done in the front office reception area with constant comings and going. What really stood out to me was the fact that the staff, who some I know on a personal level cowered. It was to strange.
Well this is a new principle this is only her second year of term. She is a very educated black woman that I have come in contact with for various awards that the little kid has won.
She wanted me there as a surprise for the little kid when she received them. The little kid did not know that she was receiving the award on any of the occasions that she received them.
So the principle fully understands what realm my child is in. She has high praise for the little kid, because the little kids pack scores make her school look good. She is at the top of the curve, and only a hand full in the school sit there with her. The little girl who said the little kid did it is Spanish and the other little girl who backs her of is black. When questioned yesterday little man
told them that the little kid didn't do it. His word was not accepted even though he sits next to her. This is the long seat in the back I'm talking about so six kids sit on it.
This morning I told the principle I would like to hear what happened. She got very cocky
with my child and quite intimidating with that head popping crap that black woman like to do.
She told the little kid with hands on her hips TELL YOUR MOTHER MISS ...... what you did.
Bang judgement. I could see that the little kid was turning the emotional tap of fear on when the principle spoke to her. Her voice broke when she started to speak. She stated or tried to the exact same story she had told me. All the Principal said was that's not what they said.
Then I started, never fuck with the momma, or Atticus Finch, because you won't win unless your supposed to win.
She tried her popping head with me and I didn't back down! The office had their mouths open.
No one had ever backed her down before. I think I made history. When I was done she was sitting on the floor, and very mild mannered. I know for a fact her staff is talking about her behind her back today. No one could believe that her power had been stripped. I got quite a few very wide high five smiles when I was through. All through the use of the same logic she would not allow my child to show her. She had already made her decision and I unmade it for her.
We established that the hand writing happened at the very least a month ago by me talking to the little girl. As for the mutilation of the bus I had to go to Laidlaw, who is the company that contracts the bus routes from the school. They thought they were going to win to. Wrong.
I asked to see all damage that was done. The little kid though extremely smart has the hand writing of chicken scratch another thing she takes after the momma.
My conclusion was I only wished that my child's penmanship was that nice. I then asked to see the square to compare it to the hole. It was part of the damage, you could see where it fit, but it was not all of the damage. There were at least two more pieces missing. I fit it myself.
The bus driver who is black also had a little head popping problem, and she thought she'd start.
Her boss was there and I had just put question on her job. She is supposed between routes check her bus from front to back for sleeping kids.
Even though I can see with my own eyes that I need more material to fill this hole, she's telling me I'm wrong because the kids said and she had fit it herself. Rather than get pissed I got up and asked her supervisor to fit it for me. She could not do it, because it was lacking in material, and the material was no where to be found, how do I know I got down on the bus floor and looked. The bus driver had not done her job.
It was not on the bus, everything else was but it. The bus had not been cleaned since the incident. After establishing these facts I went back to the school once again and spoke with the Principal, who now was only to eager to listen. There are days when we all must learn humility
and this was her day. I told her it wasn't the little kids hand writing and suggested that she take samples of all the kids. She found that to be an excellent idea. I discussed earlier with her the emotion she left my child in and had asked the counselor to speak to her, because I didn't have access to her at that point the kids had been sent to class. Which in itself was a very good thing,
because of her point in sitting on the floor. There were many chairs in the office, so this could only be seen as a beta posture, because the alfa dog had backed her down.
She told me she had checked on the little kid and she was doing fine. She said it with extreme sincerity and I do believe that she did. She learned today that the Big Picture must be able to hold the form of the small detail. And she was made to understand what the raifications would be had she persisted on her charted course.
The little kid can feel vindicated, and not that it doesn't matter if your right because they won't believe you anyway.
This was an extreme case of buy on the rumor and sell on the news, without checking the facts.