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Sometimes, the quiet kid is the hardest one to mess with.
So, what would you do if a teacher tried to embarrass you in front of the whole class by reading your private notes out loud, only to discover you’d written them in a language he couldn’t decipher?
Would you panic? Or would you wait anxiously for the big reveal?
In the following story, one student finds himself in this situation and recounts what happened.
Here’s the full scoop.
So, back in HS, if you had any jock-like tendencies, I was someone you’d think might be a good target for your bullying.
That would last exactly as long as your first scheme, when you’d find out that besides being a glasses-wearing geek carrying 20 pounds of Jules Verne and Tolkien hardbacks who was also a theatre kid (3 strikes right there), I was also clever, vicious, and vengeful.
After the wheels fell off your car, or your locker vomited rancid tapioca after a long weekend, most moved on to safer targets.
He and the girl had the same psychology class.
Anyway, being 15, hormonal, and picky, I gravitated toward a lady one school year ahead of me, who was one of the few whose interests and habits were as diverse as my own.
Because I was in AP everything, I got permission to audit her Psychology class, it being a college prep course taught by one of the great educators of my experience. She and I were both studious and quiet, so generally we were left alone.
Often in his class, short films were shown, then discussed and analysed. Being high school, note passing was a thing (cell phones and IM were decades away).
The teacher confiscated their shared notebook.
Teacher, however, was a master at sneaking up on those folk, grabbing their missives, then reading them aloud in front of everyone once the lights went back on.
GF and I were among the writers, and we were also careful. But the law of averages catches us all eventually.
Our small notebook was seized and spirited away. The film ends, the lights come up, and the teacher, with an evil grin, flourishes the book and anticipates our embarrassment. Less studious classmates awaited our downfall with ill-concealed glee.
Remember the Tolkien reference? Wait for it…
When he couldn’t read the text, the teacher handed it back.
With theatrical flair, our notebook was opened, and page upon page of our most private thoughts were laid bare before his eyes… or they would have been if he’d not been up against two teenagers who had committed to memory not one, but BOTH of JRR’s elvish alphabets.
Honestly, his expression, trending from glowing triumph, through consternation, finally settling on grudging acceptance, was a thing of beauty. Game and match. He handed the notebook back, and life and class resumed.
I had a great time when I took his class for credit the next year. I knew both the study material as well as his jokes. The teacher having a ready-made straight man made for a very pleasant semester.
Wow! It’s a good thing they learned JRR’s alphabet!
Let’s see if the people over at Reddit have ever done anything like this.
This student was a self-proclaimed history nerd.
According to this person, he writes like Tolkien, but not as good.
Here are some friends who learned the same alphabet.
This reader’s teacher knew the alphabet!
That was some good luck!
The teacher could’ve surprised them and knew how to read it.
If you liked that post, check this one about a guy who got revenge on his condo by making his own Christmas light rules.