The Philosopher

Our high school "social studies" teacher asked each of Us students to write a short eassay on Our philosophy of life and to hand them in at the end of class. The next day Mr W. said that He had picked out the essay that had really stood out to Him and that He would read it to the class. The paper was My friend Roger's. It was short and to the point " My philosophy of life is to be a Good ol' Boy." That was it. We all had a good laugh, even Mr. W. was laughing. There We were, expecting a long serious, boring paper. What We got was so much better, I know I laughed until My side hurt and others did the same. It was one of those "You had to be there" moments and even though it took place almost 50 years ago, I still chuckle when I think about it. I also remember Mr. W.'s comments, not word for word after all these years, but pretty damn close, at least close enough to get the idea across. He said, " poor ol' Roger, He'll never get anywhere in life if He persues His goal of being just a good ol' Boy. There's no future in it, the pool halls are full of good ol' Boys Who can't find work because they didn't get an education. They go from one dead end job to another, living from paycheck to paycheck and never saving one penny. The good ol' Boys are the ones that always seem to need a couple of bucks, till Friday, Their car is always broke down, so They always need a ride somewhere. These Guys are a dime a dozen, and They ain't worth that. One of these days Someone will say, "sure I know Roger, I like Roger, He ain't worth a damn, but He's a good ol' Boy." Just then the bell rang and We escaped social studies and headed off for Our next classes. I felt almost sorry for Mr. W. Roger was acting a fool for the fun of it and Mr. W. was so out of touch with His students that He didn't realize it. From that time on it was obvious that He thought Roger was a lost cause and quit calling calling on Him in class. In fact, He basically ignored Him for the remainder of the course, which suited Roger just fine.